Prospector Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Prospector Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 247,395 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. Citigroup makes up approximately 1.9% of Prospector Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $17,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1,316.1% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 10,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $772,000 after buying an additional 10,187 shares during the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Citigroup by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 8,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at about $16,612,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Citigroup by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,031,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,188,000 after purchasing an additional 97,786 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Citigroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citigroup news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Trading Down 8.0 %

C opened at $58.00 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $75.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. Citigroup Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.51 and a fifty-two week high of $84.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 buy up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.