Griffith & Werner Inc. Acquires New Stake in Citigroup Inc. $C

Griffith & Werner Inc. acquired a new stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 66,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,735,000. Citigroup makes up 3.6% of Griffith & Werner Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in Citigroup by 31.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 75,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,705,000 after buying an additional 18,176 shares during the last quarter. Permanent Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the third quarter worth $1,238,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the third quarter valued at $58,994,000. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 61.5% during the third quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 57,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,789,000 after acquiring an additional 21,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Services purchased a new stake in Citigroup during the 2nd quarter worth about $216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Key Citigroup News

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi analyst Manthey says U.K. stocks look like a good hedge amid the Iran war — highlights Citi’s research relevance and could drive client flows into trading and advisory business. Citi’s Manthey Sees UK Stocks as Good Hedge Amid Iran War
• Neutral Sentiment: TipRanks reports Citi exited a substantial holding in Liontown after a major share sale — a portfolio rebalancing/asset-management move that is unlikely to be material to Citi’s core banking earnings but reduces its exposure to that position. Citigroup Exits Substantial Holding in Liontown After Major Share Sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Citi commodities team warns oil could spike above $80 as the Iran conflict rattles markets — this increases trading volatility (potentially boosting FICC revenue) but also raises credit and macro risks for banks. Citi sees oil spiking above $80 as Iran conflict rattles market
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters: Citi told most Gulf employees to work from home as regional tensions flare — an operational disruption in a region where the bank has clients and exposure; raises risk of service interruptions, higher costs and potential client flight/credit stress. Citi instructs Gulf employees to work from home as tensions flare, source says
• Negative Sentiment: Economic Times: Citi offloaded ~8.3 lakh shares of Clean Max Enviro Energy at a ~20% discount after a weak IPO debut — selling at a discount can signal realized markdowns or liquidity pressure in institutional inventories. Clean Max Enviro Energy bulk deal: Citigroup sells 8.3 lakh shares worth Rs 70 crore
• Negative Sentiment: Economic Times reports Indian markets plunged (Rs 6.35 lakh crore wiped out) as oil spikes and war fears grip markets — broad market selloff and higher oil introduce macro/credit stress that typically weighs on bank stocks including Citi. Rs 6.35 lakh crore wiped out as oil spike and war fears grip market

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on C. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $132.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $141.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $152.00 price target on Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.25.

Citigroup Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of C stock opened at $110.85 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.51 and a 1-year high of $125.16. The firm has a market cap of $193.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.17.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $19.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.99 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.28%. Citigroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In related news, insider Cantu Ernesto Torres sold 43,173 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.09, for a total value of $4,796,088.57. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 45,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,091,810.15. This trade represents a 48.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Profile

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.