CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Purchases 242,067 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,043,324 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 242,067 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $143,802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of C. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,935,599,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,362,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,418,754,000 after acquiring an additional 7,863,718 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Citigroup by 18.5% in 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 stake in Citigroup by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,120,000 after purchasing an additional 3,947,912 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at $198,231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Citigroup Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of Citigroup stock opened at $62.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $116.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.82 and a 200 day moving average of $70.91.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $21.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.34 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on C shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays raised shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Citigroup from $84.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.61.

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.