Banco Santander S.A. Grows Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. $C

Key Points

• Banco Santander increased its Citigroup stake by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, adding 28,504 shares to reach 646,155 shares valued at about $75.4 million.
• Citigroup’s institutional ownership remains high, with large investors like Norges Bank and Vanguard also recently boosting their positions; hedge funds and other institutions own 71.72% of the stock.
• Citigroup continues to show strong fundamentals and shareholder returns, posting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, authorizing a $30 billion share buyback, and paying a quarterly dividend that implies a 1.7% annual yield.

Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 646,155 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 28,504 shares during the quarter. Citigroup comprises approximately 0.6% of Banco Santander S.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Citigroup were worth $75,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in C. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth about $2,800,944,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Citigroup by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 163,239,926 shares of the company's stock worth $19,048,467,000 after buying an additional 4,938,923 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Citigroup by 6.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,262,626 shares of the company's stock worth $4,797,292,000 after buying an additional 2,871,074 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth about $298,082,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Citigroup by 291.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,319,549 shares of the company's stock worth $153,978,000 after buying an additional 2,008,946 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citigroup news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $265,260.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,194 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,908.20. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.41, for a total value 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Citigroup

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 Price Performance

C stock opened at $139.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.11 and a 1 year high of $141.12. The firm has a market cap of $238.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.06.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.43. Citigroup had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 9.35%.The business had revenue of $24.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on C. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Citigroup in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They set a "buy" rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $139.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Citigroup from $140.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $137.62.

About Citigroup

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.

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