NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Boosts Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan boosted its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 150.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the period. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $1,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 39,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Founders Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Cowa LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its holdings in Citigroup by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 24,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in Citigroup by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

C has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Citigroup in a report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Citigroup from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays increased their price target on Citigroup from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.91.

Citigroup Stock Performance

NYSE:C traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $62.66. 15,334,130 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,989,770. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $58.94 and a 200 day moving average of $51.77. Citigroup Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.17 and a twelve month high of $63.90.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.29. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 4.90%. The company had revenue of $21.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is presently 62.72%.

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.