Citigroup Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:C)

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 200,171 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 98% compared to the average daily volume of 101,046 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In other news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 4,417 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.26, for a total transaction of $301,504.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,048 shares in the company, valued at $890,656.48. This represents a 25.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Accent Capital Management LLC grew its position in Citigroup by 106.0% during the 1st quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Citigroup in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 131.6% during the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citigroup Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of NYSE C opened at $90.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.34. Citigroup has a one year low of $53.51 and a one year high of $91.80. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $79.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.03.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $21.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.75 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Citigroup will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. This is a boost from Citigroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. Citigroup’s payout ratio is currently 35.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

C has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Citigroup in a report on Monday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down previously from $83.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $77.00 price target on Citigroup in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.11.

About Citigroup

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.