Essex Financial Services Inc. Raises Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,771 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 254 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 39,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,046,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Founders Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Cowa LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 24,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of C stock opened at $61.55 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.41. The firm has a market cap of $117.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Citigroup Inc. has a one year low of $38.17 and a one year high of $63.90.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.29. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 4.90%. The company had revenue of $21.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on C. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Citigroup from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Citigroup from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut Citigroup from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, HSBC raised their price objective on Citigroup from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.85.

About Citigroup

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.