Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Boosts Stock Holdings in Citigroup Inc. $C

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 267.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 979,862 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 713,128 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned about 0.06% of Citigroup worth $111,126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. TD Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Citigroup

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi analysts said the recent pullback in semiconductor stocks looks like a buying opportunity, which may support broader risk appetite and help sentiment around markets that Citigroup covers through its trading and research franchises. Pullback in chip stocks is a buying opportunity, Citi says
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup was highlighted in a new CMBS deal update, after pricing an $817 million multifamily conduit transaction, reinforcing Citi’s role as an active lender and securitization player in U.S. commercial real estate. Citigroup (C) Sets Post GFC Record With $817 Million Multifamily CMBS Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup reportedly closed a bullish South African rand trade after the currency looked “fragile” following South Africa’s surprise rate hold. This is more of a trading update than a major earnings driver, but it shows Citi is actively adjusting macro positions. Citi Drops Rand Bet After South Africa’s Surprise Rate Hold
• Neutral Sentiment: Separately, a headline noting Citi’s bearish view on the “Magnificent Seven” may reflect the bank’s broader market outlook, but it does not directly change Citigroup’s fundamentals. Wall Street Bank Just Declared the Magnificent 7 as “Dead” — What Happens Next?

Citigroup Price Performance

NYSE:C opened at $131.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.82. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.94 and a 1 year high of $147.96.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.41. Citigroup had a return on equity of 10.15% and a net margin of 10.23%.The firm had revenue of $24.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 11.2 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $30.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 13.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Citigroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is presently 28.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citigroup news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.30, for a total transaction of $265,260.10. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,194 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,908.20. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

C has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus set a $150.00 price objective on Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on Citigroup from $134.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Citigroup from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.67.

Citigroup Company Profile

Citigroup Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in New York City with roots tracing back to the City Bank of New York, founded in 1812. The modern Citigroup was created through the 1998 merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group and has since operated as a diversified bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments and institutions worldwide.

Citi’s principal businesses include retail and commercial banking, credit card and consumer lending products, wealth management and private banking, and a full suite of institutional services.