Dearborn Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Dearborn Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,115 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in C. Core Alternative Capital lifted its position in Citigroup by 83.4% in the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of C opened at $67.56 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $77.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.87. 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 twelve month low of $53.51 and a twelve month high of $84.74. The company has a market cap of $127.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on C. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Insider Activity

In other Citigroup news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total transaction of $2,433,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 over the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.