25,976 Shares in Citigroup Inc. $C Purchased by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 25,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,636,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,800,944,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Citigroup in the second quarter worth $3,244,602,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 163,239,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,048,467,000 after acquiring an additional 4,938,923 shares in the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth $298,082,000. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the first quarter worth $252,972,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE C opened at $138.50 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $137.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.86. Citigroup Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.68 and a 52-week high of $147.96. The company has a market cap of $236.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.96, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.12. 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 (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $24.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.74 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 10.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 11.2 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $30.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Citigroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Citigroup from $158.00 to $154.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $154.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $150.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.22.

Key Stories Impacting Citigroup

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup appointed Adam Clark as head of wealth planning. Clark is joining from JPMorgan, where he led global trusts and estates since 2016. The hire could support Citi’s strategy to expand wealth-management services and attract high-net-worth clients, although the announcement does not provide a near-term earnings forecast. Citigroup names Adam Clark wealth planning head
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warned that higher bank taxes in the United Kingdom could drive financial-services jobs away, citing New York’s experience with tax increases. The comments are not specific to Citi, but they highlight regulatory and tax risks facing large global banks. Jamie Dimon warns UK bank tax hikes could trigger a New York-style finance exodus
• Negative Sentiment: No new earnings, guidance, capital-return announcement or regulatory update involving Citigroup appeared in the supplied reports. That leaves the stock without a fresh positive catalyst after its recent strong advance toward its 12-month high. Citi’s previous quarterly results were strong, with earnings and revenue exceeding expectations, but those results are not new information in this news cycle.

About Citigroup

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.