Investment Management Corp of Ontario Grows Position in Citigroup Inc. $C

Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 27.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 175,929 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 38,149 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $20,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verus Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Citigroup by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Citigroup by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $799,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp increased its stake in Citigroup by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 3,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Trading activity showed unusually strong demand for Citigroup call options, suggesting investors are positioning for further upside in the stock.
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup’s May consumer credit data was mixed but not alarming overall: card delinquencies declined, which may support the view that credit quality remains manageable. Article: Citigroup’s Card Delinquencies Decline, Charge-Offs Rise in May
• Positive Sentiment: The stock is still benefiting from recent momentum tied to strong earnings, restructuring progress, AI-related initiatives and share buybacks, which have helped push shares toward multi-year highs. Article: Citigroup Stock at Multi-Year High: Why Investors Should Stay Invested
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a report that Citigroup had recently gone long on a more constructive market view via an economist’s call for Fed rate cuts, but this is more macro commentary than a direct company catalyst. Article: Citi chief US economist defends unpopular Fed rate-cut call
• Negative Sentiment: Two lawsuits tied to a former executive’s allegations over Trump-related client concerns and retaliation could create legal and reputational risk for Citigroup if the claims gain traction. Article: Citigroup faces lawsuit over alleged Trump-linked account issues

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on C shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Citigroup from $140.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Citigroup from $137.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Citigroup from $146.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.79.

Citigroup Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of C stock opened at $143.74 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.26 and a 1 year high of $146.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $245.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.12.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $24.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.96 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Citigroup’s payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

Citigroup declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $30.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 13.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In other Citigroup news, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.41, for a total transaction of $3,285,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 182,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,919,511.02. The trade was a 12.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.30, for a total value of $265,260.10. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,908.20. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.