Top 5 High Dividend Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds

2. Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 82
Dividend Yield as of October 6: 4.65%

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) is an American multinational investment banking company that also provides financial and other banking services to its consumers. The company is one of the major banks to reserve a spot in the global investment banking table. The bank generated over $2.3 billion in revenue as of September 2022, accounting for 4.2% of the global investment banking revenue.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) generated over $9 billion in free cash flow in the second quarter of 2022, which smoothly covered its dividend payments worth over $1 billion. The company has a safe payout ratio of 29%, which further indicated dividend growth. Though Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) does not have a dividend growth track record, it has raised its payouts at a CAGR of 20.59% in the last five years. It currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share for a yield of 4.65%, as of October 6.

In July, Oppenheimer raised its price target on Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) to $86 with an Outperform rating on the shares, highlighting the company’s clean balance sheet with minimal loans.

As of the close of Q2 2022, 82 hedge funds in Insider Monkey’s database reported owning stakes in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), compared with 88 in the previous quarter. These stakes have a total value of over $7.4 billion.

Diamond Hill Capital mentioned Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) in its Q1 2022 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say:

“Shares of Citigroup declined in the quarter as investors became increasingly negative on capital markets activity. The company is also continuing to divest certain consumer banking geographies which may be dilutive to earnings in the near term.”