Financial Stocks Dominate Pzena Investment Management’s Equity Portfolio at the End of June

Pzena Investment Management trimmed its stake in Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) by 2% to over 9.56 million shares worth $528.21 million. The company managed to beat the Street’s expectations for the second quarter and posted EPS of $1.45 on revenue of $19.2 billion, compared to estimates of $1.34 and $19.1 billion respectively. Last week it was reported that the bank’s deal to sell its subprime lending arm OneMain Financial Holdings Inc. to Springleaf Holdings Inc (NYSE:LEAF) will face hurdles due to antitrust concerns from regulators. Another shareholder of Citigroup is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management, which owns 11.83 million shares as of the end of June. Moreover, at the end of March, Citigroup was one of the most popular stocks among the funds we track with 126 investors disclosing holding $11.63 billion worth of stock.

Amid a 13.1% growth of the stock, Pzena trimmed its stake in American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG)‘s by 7% to around 8.5 million shares worth $526.08 million. The insurance behemoth reported its second-quarter results on August 4, which included EPS of $1.39 (adjusted for one-time gains and costs), which beat analysts’ consensus estimate of $1.21. In its earnings report, the company also announced that it would more than double its quarterly dividend to $0.28 and increase its share buyback by $5 billion. On August 7, BMO Capital Markets reiterated its ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock and raised the price target to $71 from $67. Billionaire John Paulson’s Paulson & Co initiated a stake in American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) during the first quarter by buying over 14.6 million shares of the company.

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