Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 89,601 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,638,660 shares of the company’s stock after selling 89,601 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.19% of Citigroup worth $256,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of C. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 18.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,680,713 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,120,000 after acquiring an additional 3,947,912 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 70.0% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 4,531,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,628 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,115,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,527 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Citigroup by 103.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410,950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Price Performance

Citigroup stock opened at $84.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $160.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.93. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.51 and a 52 week high of $84.67.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. Citigroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire 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 stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

C has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Citigroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.