Fulton Bank N.A. Buys 4,204 Shares of Citigroup Inc. $C

Fulton Bank N.A. raised its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 34.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,457 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,204 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $2,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. bought a new position in Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. TD Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Citigroup by 197.6% during the 1st quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 244 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on C shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on Citigroup from $150.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $140.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Citigroup from $154.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.22.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of C opened at $135.78 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $137.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Citigroup Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.68 and a twelve month high of $147.96. The company has a market cap of $231.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.12.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 $24.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 11.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

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

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Healthcare banking expansion: Citi appointed new leadership across biotechnology, medical technology, biopharmaceuticals and acute-care banking. The changes position the firm to benefit from increased healthcare dealmaking and could support future advisory, underwriting and financing revenue. Citi Taps New Healthcare Banking Leadership as Dealmaking Heats Up
• Positive Sentiment: Large financing mandate: Citi co-led a $414 million financing for restaurant-commerce platform inKind. The oversubscribed transaction brings inKind’s total capital raised above $1.2 billion and demonstrates Citi’s ability to win sizable private-company financing business, although the direct earnings impact is likely limited. inKind Secures $414 Million in Financing Led by Citi and Cross River
• Positive Sentiment: European leadership hire: Citigroup hired Jean-Baptiste Charlet from Morgan Stanley to lead its French operation. The move could help Citi strengthen its presence in France and compete for corporate, markets and investment-banking mandates. Citigroup Poaches Charlet From Morgan Stanley to Head French Arm
• Neutral Sentiment: Research activity remains visible: Citi maintained a Buy rating and raised its price target on MongoDB, while separately lowering its target for Micron because of potential slowing memory pricing and rising Chinese competition. These calls may generate research and client activity, but they have little direct effect on Citigroup’s earnings or valuation.

Citigroup 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.