Legato Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Citigroup Inc. $C

Key Points

• Legato Capital Management initiated a new position in Citigroup during the fourth quarter, buying 21,700 shares valued at about $2.53 million.
• Citigroup reported stronger-than-expected Q1 earnings, with EPS of $3.06 versus the $2.63 consensus and revenue of $24.63 billion, up 14.1% year over year.
• The bank’s board approved a $30 billion share repurchase program, and Citigroup also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, equal to a 1.9% annualized yield.

Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 21,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,532,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of C. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. bought a new position in Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. High Note Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 107.7% during the fourth quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 270 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Maseco LLP acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company's stock.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE C opened at $125.10 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $121.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.14. 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 fifty-two week low of $71.65 and a fifty-two week high of $135.29.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $24.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. Citigroup's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup declared that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company 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 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In other news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,527,908.20. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $23,919,511.02. This represents a 12.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

C has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Citigroup from $140.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Citigroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Citigroup from $140.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $137.62.

More 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 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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