12,290 Shares in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Bought by R Squared Ltd

R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 12,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $865,000. Citigroup accounts for about 0.8% of R Squared Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in C. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Citigroup during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Citigroup during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Webster Bank N. A. grew its holdings in Citigroup by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 184.0% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

C has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Citigroup stock opened at $79.97 on Wednesday. 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 $52.24 and a twelve month high of $82.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.32. The company has a market cap of $151.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share 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 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 revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup declared that its board has approved a stock 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 purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

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.