Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 6,023 Shares of Citigroup Inc. $C

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lowered its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 0.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 857,832 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,023 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $120,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Paladin Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. TD Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Citigroup by 197.6% in the 1st quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on C. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Citigroup from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $135.50 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Argus set a $150.00 price objective on Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Citigroup from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.22.

Key Citigroup News

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

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of C stock opened at $132.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $136.20 and a 200-day moving average of $126.81. The company has a market cap of $226.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.96 and a 52 week high of $147.96.

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

Citigroup Increases Dividend

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

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $30.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 13.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.