Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Purchases Shares of 3,133 Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of C. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,680,713 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 70.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 4,531,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,692,000 after buying an additional 1,865,628 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,115,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,527 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 103.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,410,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Citigroup by 9.8% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 15,676,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $981,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,120 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE C opened at $81.07 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $52.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.21. The firm has a market cap of $153.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

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

Citigroup declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Citigroup in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

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.