National Pension Service Purchases 119,190 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Citigroup Inc. by 3.2%, acquiring 119,190 shares to hold a total of 3,838,451 shares, valued at approximately $272 million.
• Citigroup reported a quarterly EPS of $1.96, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.61, with a revenue of $21.67 billion for the quarter.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.60 per share, reflecting a yield of 2.5% and a payout ratio of 35.45%.

National Pension Service grew its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,838,451 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 119,190 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.20% of Citigroup worth $272,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 166.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,990 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 12,499 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,565 shares of the company's stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 403,987 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,437,000 after purchasing an additional 17,350 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 15,882 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 3,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at $2,367,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Peter B. Henry sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.40, for a total transaction of $271,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $193,456. This trade represents a 58.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Citigroup from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Citigroup from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Dbs Bank raised Citigroup from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Citigroup from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Citigroup from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.54.

Citigroup Stock Performance

C traded down $1.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $93.66. The company had a trading volume of 11,998,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,281,200. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $87.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.86. The company has a market cap of $172.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.38. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.51 and a 1 year high of $96.90.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $21.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.75 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from Citigroup's previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.45%.

Citigroup Company 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.