Viking Fund Management LLC Purchases Shares of 130,000 Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 130,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,151,000. Citigroup comprises approximately 1.4% of Viking Fund Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Citigroup by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,919,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,492,238,000 after buying an additional 791,758 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Citigroup by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680,713 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Citigroup by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,970,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,544,000 after buying an additional 911,694 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 17,428,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,105,999,000 after purchasing an additional 913,231 shares during the period. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 1.5% in the third quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 16,883,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,900,000 after buying an additional 242,545 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of C opened at $81.74 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $71.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.77. 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 market capitalization of $154.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. Citigroup Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.95 and a fifty-two week high of $81.85.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Company Profile

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.