Top 20 Dividend Stocks of 2024

2. Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 88

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. In the third quarter of 2024, the company posted revenue of $20.3 billion, up 1% from the same period last year. In the Markets segment, revenues saw an increase, with Equities rising by 32%. Investment Banking revenue grew by 31%, primarily driven by investment-grade debt issuance. The changes implemented in the Wealth business are beginning to show positive effects, with a 9% revenue growth, including significant increases in client investment assets and investment fee revenue. US Personal Banking revenues grew by 3%, with Branded Cards seeing an 8% increase, fueled by account acquisitions, higher spending, and payment rates, which contributed to an increase in interest-earning balances.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), one of the best dividend stocks, raised its quarterly dividend by 5.7% in June, following the successful completion of the Federal Reserve’s annual stress test. The company has never missed a dividend payment in over 34 years. Moreover, it returned $2.1 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases in the most recent quarter. It pays a quarterly dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.18%, as of December 30.

Diamond Hill Capital made the following comment about C in its Q1 2024 investor letter:

“Other top Q1 contributors included Meta Platforms, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) and Walt Disney. Banking and financial services company Citigroup’s restructuring efforts are ongoing, and it continues remediating regulatory issues and building capital in anticipation of increased requirements. The company expects to see expenses fall meaningfully in the second half of 2024, bolstering the outlook from here.”

The number of hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey at the end of Q3 holding stakes in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) grew to 88 in Q3 2024, from 85 in the previous quarter. The total value of these stakes is roughly $11 billion. With over 55 million shares, Berkshire Hathaway was the company’s leading stakeholder in Q3.