Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Key Points

• Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Citigroup Inc. by 21.6%, selling 5,570 shares, and now holds 20,182 shares valued at approximately $1,433,000.
• Citigroup reported earnings of $1.96 per share for its latest quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $1.61, with total revenue of $21.67 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, an increase from the previous $0.56, representing an annualized yield of 2.52%.

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 21.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,182 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,570 shares during the period. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Citigroup were worth $1,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in C. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in Citigroup in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 68.2% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 577 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company's stock.

Citigroup Stock Performance

NYSE:C traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $96.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,537,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,283,003. The stock has a market cap of $179.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.19, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.34. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $96.90. The business's fifty day moving average is $82.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $21.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.75 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 8.44%. Citigroup's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Citigroup's previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. Citigroup's payout ratio is currently 33.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citigroup news, Director Peter B. Henry sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.40, for a total transaction of $271,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,140 shares in the company, valued at $193,456. This represents a 58.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 4,417 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.26, for a total value of $301,504.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $890,656.48. This trade represents a 25.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

C has been the topic of a number of research reports. Dbs Bank upgraded Citigroup from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Citigroup in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.46.

Citigroup 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.