Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $1.26 Million Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,883 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $1,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in Citigroup during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,607,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 72.3% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the third quarter worth $80,000. Stablepoint Partners LLC raised its stake in Citigroup by 10.0% during the third quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 6,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 7.1% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:C opened at $81.17 on Wednesday. Citigroup Inc. has a one year low of $52.24 and a one year high of $82.91. The company has a market cap of $153.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.05 and a 200-day moving average of $67.41.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on C. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

Citigroup Company Profile

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.