Update: "Dick Bove on Citigroup's Revese Split: "...Poorly Thought Out..." (C)"
Original post:
Enlarging the pool of potential buyers. Some funds will not buy a stock under $5.00, now they can.
Ditto for stocks that don't pay dividends.
One potential negative: Reverse splits can act as a price discovery mechanism. What they discover is often unpleasant for pre-split shareholders, only around 40% of reverse splits end up with a larger market capitalization a month after the split.
That said the stock is up 12 cents at $4.62 in early pre-market trade.
From the company via Yahoo finance:
Citigroup Inc. today announced a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of Citigroup common stock. Citi also announced that it intends to reinstate a quarterly dividend of $0.01 per common share in the second quarter of 2011, following the effective date of the reverse stock split.
“Citi is a fundamentally different company than it was three years ago,” said Vikram Pandit, Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup. “The reverse stock split and intention to reinstate a dividend are important steps as we anticipate returning capital to shareholders starting next year.”
Citi anticipates the reverse stock split will be effective after the close of trading on May 6, 2011, and that Citi common stock will begin trading on a split adjusted basis on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening of trading on May 9, 2011. When the reverse stock split becomes effective, every ten shares of issued and outstanding Citigroup common stock will be automatically combined into one issued and outstanding share of common stock without any change in the par value per share. This will reduce the number of outstanding shares of Citigroup common stock from approximately 29 billion to approximately 2.9 billion. Citigroup common stock will continue trading on the NYSE under the symbol “C” but will trade under a new CUSIP number.
No fractional shares will be issued in connection with the reverse stock split. Following the completion of the reverse stock split, Citi’s transfer agent will aggregate all fractional shares that otherwise would have been issued as a result of the reverse stock split and those shares will be sold into the market. Stockholders who would otherwise hold a fractional share of Citigroup common stock will receive a cash payment from the proceeds of that sale in lieu of such fractional share. Additional information on the treatment of fractional shares and other effects of the reverse split can be found in Citi’s definitive proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 12, 2010....MORE
