O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Citigroup Inc. $C

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 24.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 803,167 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 159,746 shares during the period. Citigroup makes up about 0.5% of O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $93,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in C. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Citigroup by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 375,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,873,000 after acquiring an additional 16,744 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in Citigroup by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 663,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,337,000 after acquiring an additional 98,082 shares in the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,165,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Citigroup by 166.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after acquiring an additional 12,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in Citigroup by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 341,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,700,000 after acquiring an additional 61,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut Citigroup from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $146.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Truist Financial set a $147.00 price objective on Citigroup in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Citigroup from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $139.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.62.

Citigroup News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup reshuffled senior leadership, naming Margo Pilic head of strategy, M&A, and investor relations, a move that could improve execution and simplify decision-making as CEO Jane Fraser continues the bank’s transformation. Citigroup Reshapes Leadership As It Pushes Into Tokenized Deposits
• Positive Sentiment: The bank is joining JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and other large lenders on a blockchain-based tokenized deposit network, signaling that Citi wants to stay competitive in next-generation payments and possibly benefit from lower-friction transaction infrastructure. JPMorgan, Citi and Big Banks Plan New Tokenized Deposit System to Answer Crypto
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also responding to Citi’s growing use of AI in operations, including a document-review system that cuts account-opening review time from about an hour to 15 minutes, which may point to better efficiency and cost savings over time. Citi Used AI to Shrink a 60-Minute Document Review to 15 Minutes
• Neutral Sentiment: Citi also announced redemptions of $3.15 billion of notes due in 2027, a routine balance-sheet management move that does not appear to be a major catalyst on its own. Citigroup Announces $2.75 Billion Redemption…
• Neutral Sentiment: Several headlines about Citi’s stock becoming overextended and the broader market looking “frothy” may temper enthusiasm, but they read more like caution flags than direct negatives for the company’s fundamentals. The stock market is at its frothiest…

Citigroup Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:C opened at $132.62 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $76.11 and a 12 month high of $135.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $124.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.89. The company has a market cap of $226.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.12.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.43. Citigroup had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 9.19%. 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 company posted $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is 29.74%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In related news, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.41, for a total value of $3,285,250.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 182,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,919,511.02. This represents a 12.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.30, for a total transaction of $265,260.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,194 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,908.20. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.