Citigroup Inc. $C Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its Citigroup stake by 2.5% in the first quarter, selling 19,029 shares and leaving it with 732,846 shares valued at about $83.1 million.
• Citigroup posted a strong second-quarter earnings beat, reporting $3.15 EPS on $24.75 billion in revenue, both above estimates, while revenue rose 14.5% year over year.
• The bank boosted shareholder returns by authorizing a $30 billion share buyback and raising its quarterly dividend to $0.67 per share, up from $0.60.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 732,846 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,029 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Citigroup were worth $83,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cora Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 3.1% in the first quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,609 shares of the company's stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 0.4% during the first quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,596 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,336,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Citigroup by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the company's stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. CFO Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Citigroup by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. CFO Capital Management LLC now owns 5,495 shares of the company's stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC grew its stake in Citigroup by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 3,191 shares of the company's stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citigroup news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 12,194 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,908.20. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Citigroup News

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup priced an $817 million multifamily CMBS deal, its largest post-GFC multifamily-only securitization, underscoring continued strength in Citi’s commercial real estate capital markets franchise and demand for apartment-backed debt. Citigroup (C) Sets Post GFC Record With $817 Million Multifamily CMBS Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages remain constructive on Citigroup after its strong second quarter, with analysts pointing to solid earnings, improving outlooks and rising estimates for the bank. Buy 3 Top-Ranked Big Investment Banks Amid Solid Q2 Earnings & Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its quarterly dividend to $0.67 per share from $0.60, signaling confidence in capital strength and offering a more attractive income profile for shareholders. Dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup was also in the news for hiring five U.S. tech investment banking executives, a move that could support franchise growth over time but is unlikely to move the stock immediately. Citigroup hires five US tech investment banking executives from rivals
• Negative Sentiment: Citi’s downgrade of agilon health to Sell shows the bank is still making cautious calls on certain sectors, but this is more relevant to agilon than to Citigroup’s own earnings outlook. Why agilon health (AGL) Shares Are Falling Today

Citigroup Stock Performance

NYSE:C opened at $131.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $225.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's 50 day moving average is $134.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.76. Citigroup Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.94 and a fifty-two week high of $147.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $24.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.74 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 10.15%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. Analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 11.22 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Citigroup's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Citigroup from $134.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Citigroup from $146.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore set a $143.00 target price on Citigroup in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Citigroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $145.67.

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.

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