Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Reduces Stake in Citigroup Inc. $C

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 876,387 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,364 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $102,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $799,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC increased its position in Citigroup by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 3,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on C shares. Zacks Research cut Citigroup from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $139.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $140.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $131.00 to $135.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.62.

Citigroup News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup launched tokenized Digital Depositary Receipts, creating a new blockchain-based way for clients to gain exposure to private companies and for issuers to tap liquidity, reinforcing Citi’s push into next-generation capital markets. Citigroup Is Rolling Out Tokenized Shares of Private Companies
• Positive Sentiment: Related coverage said Citi is expanding access to private markets with tokenized private-share trading, which could open a new fee-generating business line and strengthen its innovation story with large clients. Citigroup Expands Access to Private Markets With Tokenized Depositary Receipts
• Positive Sentiment: Trump praised Citigroup and CEO Jane Fraser as a top M&A adviser, which helped fuel momentum and reinforced confidence in Citi’s investment banking comeback. Citigroup shares outperform down market after Trump endorsement
• Positive Sentiment: Citi also continued building out its consumer and retail investment banking franchise with a new managing director hire, suggesting management is still investing in growth areas. Citi hires Ryan Beaupré as MD in consumer and retail investment banking push
• Neutral Sentiment: Citi completed the sale of its Polish consumer banking business, continuing its multi-year retreat from underperforming overseas markets. This supports simplification, but it also shows ongoing shrinkage in some international operations. Citi’s overseas retreat advances with sale of Polish business
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that regulators are probing banks’ use of AI could raise compliance scrutiny for the sector, but there was no Citi-specific issue mentioned. Bank Regulators Probe Industry Use of AI

Citigroup Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of C stock opened at $139.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Citigroup Inc. has a one year low of $76.11 and a one year high of $141.12. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $127.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.06. The company has a market capitalization of $238.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.12.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.43. Citigroup had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The company had revenue of $24.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. Citigroup’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is 29.74%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $30.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.41, for a total transaction of $3,285,250.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 182,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,919,511.02. This trade represents a 12.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.30, for a total value of $265,260.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,908.20. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Company Profile

Citigroup Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in New York City with roots tracing back to the City Bank of New York, founded in 1812. The modern Citigroup was created through the 1998 merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group and has since operated as a diversified bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments and institutions worldwide.

Citi’s principal businesses include retail and commercial banking, credit card and consumer lending products, wealth management and private banking, and a full suite of institutional services.