Truist Financial Corp Raises Stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 322,026 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,254 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $22,667,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 340.6% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,536,000 after acquiring an additional 27,856 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 34.8% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,852,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Citigroup by 2.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,236,000 after purchasing an additional 8,301 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Citigroup by 168.7% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 12,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Citigroup by 1.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,138,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,270,000 after purchasing an additional 20,291 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total transaction of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on C. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Trading Down 0.8 %

C stock opened at $83.94 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $158.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $76.43 and its 200 day moving average is $68.23. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.