Hartline Investment Corp Grows Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. $C

Key Points

• Hartline Investment Corp increased its Citigroup stake by 26% in the fourth quarter, ending with 105,064 shares worth about $12.26 million.
• Citigroup’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $3.06 versus $2.63 expected and revenue up 14.1% year over year to $24.63 billion.
• The bank is returning capital to shareholders through a $0.60 quarterly dividend and a newly authorized $30 billion stock buyback plan, while analysts maintain a consensus Moderate Buy rating.

Hartline Investment Corp grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 26.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 105,064 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 21,677 shares during the period. Citigroup accounts for about 1.3% of Hartline Investment Corp's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Hartline Investment Corp's holdings in Citigroup were worth $12,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Donaldson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup during the third quarter worth about $58,994,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in Citigroup by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 663,416 shares of the company's stock worth $67,337,000 after purchasing an additional 98,082 shares during the period. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,165,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Citigroup by 166.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,990 shares of the company's stock worth $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 12,499 shares during the period. Finally, Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 102,255 shares of the company's stock worth $10,379,000 after acquiring an additional 11,512 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Citigroup News

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup announced a private credit partnership with BlackRock’s HPS Investment Partners, a large €15 billion deal aimed at expanding direct lending across Europe, the U.K., and later the Middle East. The move could help Citi deepen its presence in private credit and generate new fee income. Citigroup (C) Forms Private Credit Partnership With BlackRock
• Positive Sentiment: Citi’s wealth business is also expanding, with management saying a significant share of new global hiring will be focused on Asia, where the private bank is growing faster and producing better productivity. That supports the bank’s restructuring story and long-term profitability goals. Citi to boost Asia wealth business with 'significant' hires, global head says
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup shareholder approval of an expanded stock incentive plan suggests investors are backing management’s compensation and retention strategy, which can help support execution on the company’s turnaround plan. Citigroup Shareholders Approve Expanded Stock Incentive Plan
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup also continues to benefit from a broader favorable view from analysts, including comments that Q1 results confirmed improving earnings momentum. Citigroup Upgraded As Q1 Results Confirm Earnings Improvement Direction For Banking Giant
• Neutral Sentiment: Separate commentary noted Citi expects India IPO activity to recover later this year, which is positive for capital markets activity but is more of a medium-term driver than an immediate stock catalyst. Citi sees India IPOs hitting fresh records despite challenges
• Negative Sentiment: One potential overhang is governance pressure: a separate report said more Citi shareholders voted against the bank’s say-on-pay resolution, reflecting concern about executive compensation and Jane Fraser’s pay package. More Citi shareholders vote 'no' on say-on-pay

Citigroup Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of C opened at $125.10 on Friday. Citigroup Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.65 and a twelve month high of $135.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $121.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.84.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.43. Citigroup had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 9.35%.The firm had revenue of $24.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on C shares. Evercore set a $139.00 target price on Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research lowered Citigroup from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Citigroup from $131.00 to $135.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Citigroup from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In related news, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.41, for a total value of $3,285,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 182,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,919,511.02. This represents a 12.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.30, for a total value of $265,260.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,194 shares of the company's stock, 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. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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