Highland Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Highland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 189,920 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $9,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in C. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Union Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Citigroup by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 683 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Citigroup by 75.0% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $63.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 18th. TheStreet raised shares of Citigroup from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $68.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citigroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.03.

Citigroup Price Performance

C stock opened at $62.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.17 and a 52 week high of $62.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $56.06 and its 200 day moving average is $48.95. The firm has a market cap of $120.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.50.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The company reported ($1.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($1.89). Citigroup had a net margin of 5.88% and a return on equity of 6.49%. The business had revenue of $17.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Citigroup’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is currently 53.13%.

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.