GFS Advisors LLC Takes Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

GFS Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 31,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,248,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in Citigroup by 340.6% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,536,000 after buying an additional 27,856 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 34.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,852,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Citigroup by 2.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,236,000 after purchasing an additional 8,301 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 168.7% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 12,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Citigroup by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,138,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,270,000 after purchasing an additional 20,291 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Price Performance

NYSE:C opened at $81.43 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.64. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.24 and a 12 month high of $82.77. The firm has a market cap of $154.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. 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 (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. On average, analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on C shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

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.