Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $1.26 Million Stock Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,883 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $1,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 340.6% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,536,000 after purchasing an additional 27,856 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its holdings in Citigroup by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,852,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Citigroup by 2.4% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,236,000 after buying an additional 8,301 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 168.7% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after buying an additional 12,280 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 1.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,138,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,270,000 after acquiring an additional 20,291 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Up 0.5 %

C stock opened at $81.17 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $153.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.24 and a 52 week high of $82.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.41.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is 37.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on C shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

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.