Aspen Investment Management Inc Makes New Investment in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Aspen Investment Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Core Alternative Capital raised its position in Citigroup by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citigroup Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of C stock opened at $81.32 on Friday. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.51 and a 1-year high of $84.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market cap of $153.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.67, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $76.63 and a 200-day moving average of $68.32.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,893,277.80. This represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 in the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Citigroup in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.93.

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.