Poplar Forest Capital LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 317,335 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,008 shares during the quarter. Citigroup makes up 4.0% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Poplar Forest Capital LLC's holdings in Citigroup were worth $22,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,587,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,853,484,000 after purchasing an additional 667,357 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 38,561,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,714,359,000 after purchasing an additional 815,003 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,362,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,418,754,000 after purchasing an additional 7,863,718 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,832,063 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,311,048,000 after purchasing an additional 2,804,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 455.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,352,582 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,206,908,000 after purchasing an additional 25,705,141 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citigroup Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of C stock traded up $0.65 on Friday, reaching $96.04. 13,537,763 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,283,003. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.51 and a 52 week high of $96.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.34. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $82.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.25.

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

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Citigroup's previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Citigroup's payout ratio is currently 35.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on C shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Citigroup from $93.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $89.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $96.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.