Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Makes New $10.40 Million Investment in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 149,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,400,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Citigroup during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Citigroup in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Citigroup in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 184.0% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 568 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

C has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citigroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.93.

Citigroup Stock Performance

C opened at $81.41 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.43. Citigroup Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $72.47 and a 200 day moving average of $66.10.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication 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.