Stevens Capital Management LP Lowers Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Stevens Capital Management LP lowered its position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 61.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,421 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,688 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Citigroup by 1.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,378,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,115,000 after buying an additional 54,782 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Citigroup during the third quarter worth about $479,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Citigroup by 4.4% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 141,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,874,000 after buying an additional 5,944 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Citigroup by 6.1% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 52,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,592,000 after buying an additional 3,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Citigroup by 21.4% during the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on C. Barclays upgraded 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In other Citigroup news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total transaction of $2,433,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 over the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Citigroup Price Performance

C stock opened at $71.93 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $77.46 and a 200-day moving average of $70.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. Citigroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.