Citigroup: Financial Winners & Losers

(Citigroup and other stock prices brought current in this update.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Citigroup (C) was among the losers of Monday's session, pressuring the financial sector, after the U.S. government announced the initial step to divest its stake in the bank.

Citigroup shares traded lower after the Treasury said it plans to sell 1.5 billion shares of its total stake of nearly 7.7 billion Citigroup common shares. The sale is the first step in a pre-arranged written trading plan with Morgan Stanley (MS). The Treasury received the Citigroup common shares last year as part of the Capital Purchase Program at a price of $3.25 per share.

Citigroup was lately losing 24 cents, or 4.9%, to $4.62. Still, the stock is up nearly 40% in 2010.

Other major U.S. bank stocks were trading lower. Goldman Sachs (GS) slid 3.6% to $151.75, Morgan Stanley (MS) fell 3.4% to $30.85, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) was down 2.6% to $43.79, and Wells Fargo (WFC) gave back 2.1% to $32.79.

Bank of America (BAC) also traded lower, down 2% to $18.07, even after a report the bank is set to name a new chairman. Directors Frank Bramble and Charles Holliday are the leading contenders to become chairman of the bank this week, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Bank of America is expected to make a decision on Wednesday after its shareholder meeting, the Journal says.

Away from bank stocks, The PMI Group said its first-quarter loss ballooned to $1.94 a share from $1.41 a share in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had been looking for a smaller quarterly loss of 94 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue was down 36% from a year ago to $156.6 million, below the $172 million consensus.

Separately, PMI said it will offer $400 million in common stock and $200 million in convertible senior notes.

PMI shares were lately down 5% to $6.30. Among other mortgage insurer stocks, Radian Group (RDN) fell 3.8% to $17.63, while MGIC Investment (MTG) was flat at $11.43.

Elsewhere, Thomas Weisel Partners Group (TWPG) rallied after Stifel Financial (SF) said it will buy the investment bank for over $300 million, valuing Thomas Weisel shares at $7.60 each.

Thomas Weisel shares surged 67.7% to $7.31, while Stifel shares slid 2.7% to $54.26.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.

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