Swedbank AB Grows Stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 90.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,947,912 shares during the quarter. Citigroup comprises approximately 0.7% of Swedbank AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $586,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 2.9% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 378,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,051,000 after purchasing an additional 10,518 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Citigroup by 58.4% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 127,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,067,000 after acquiring an additional 46,890 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 125,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,977,000 after acquiring an additional 3,004 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 23.6% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 3,313 shares during the period. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup during the second quarter worth $406,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of Citigroup stock traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $81.21. 1,210,763 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,021,920. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $72.93 and a 200 day moving average of $66.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.60 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.43. Citigroup Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.77.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Company Profile

Citigroup Inc, a diversified financial service holding company, provides various financial product and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions worldwide. It operates through five segments: Services, Markets, Banking, U.S. Personal Banking, and Wealth. The Services segment includes Treasury and Trade Solutions, which provides cash management, trade, and working capital solutions to multinational corporations, financial institutions, and public sector organizations; and Securities Services, such as cross-border support for clients, local market expertise, post-trade technologies, data solutions, and various securities services solutions.