Empower Advisory Group LLC Cuts Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 170,317 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,575 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $11,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in Citigroup during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,607,000. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 381,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,873,000 after buying an additional 2,372 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 1.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,378,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,115,000 after buying an additional 54,782 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 86.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 13,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 6,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Citigroup by 4.8% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:C opened at $84.62 on Tuesday. Citigroup Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.51 and a 12-month high of $84.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $75.95 and a 200-day moving average of $67.93. 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 stock has a market cap of $160.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.44.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on C shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. 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 for the company. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

About Citigroup

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.