North Star Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Citigroup Inc. $C

North Star Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 4,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cora Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Citigroup by 3.1% during the first quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Citigroup by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. American Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 2,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 9,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Trading Up 0.1%

C opened at $132.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $226.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.12. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.96 and a 12 month high of $147.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $136.20 and a 200 day moving average of $126.81.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $24.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.74 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 10.15% and a net margin of 10.23%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 11.2 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This is a boost from Citigroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Citigroup’s payout ratio is currently 28.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on C shares. Argus set a $150.00 target price on Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer cut Citigroup from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Citigroup from $154.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Citigroup from $158.00 to $154.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.22.

Citigroup News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup’s recent quarterly results provide a fundamental cushion: earnings and revenue exceeded analyst expectations, with revenue up 14.5% year over year. SEC Probe Puts Wall Street Leverage Risk Back in Focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Citi analyst activity on Oracle, BMW and Forvia reflects the bank’s research and advisory business, but the recommendations are directed at those companies and have little direct impact on Citigroup’s equity value. Oracle Stock Gains Premarket
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup entities reported exiting substantial-holder status in Australia’s IDP Education and Healius. These appear to be portfolio or position disclosures rather than changes to Citi’s core business, making the immediate stock impact limited. Citi Group Entities Exit Substantial Holder Status in IDP Education
• Negative Sentiment: The SEC reportedly subpoenaed Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Bank of America over margin lending to hedge fund Situational Awareness, which suffered a 67% drawdown during an AI-stock sell-off. The probe puts leverage, collateral and counterparty-risk controls under scrutiny; potential fines, litigation costs or tighter lending requirements could weigh on Citi’s profitability, although the ultimate exposure remains unclear. SEC Probe Puts Wall Street Leverage Risk Back in Focus

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.