Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Citizens & Northern from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Zacks Research upgraded Citizens & Northern from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.50.

Citizens & Northern Stock Performance

Citizens & Northern stock opened at $25.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $462.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43 and a beta of 0.40. Citizens & Northern has a 1 year low of $18.87 and a 1 year high of $26.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.90.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $39.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.60 million. Citizens & Northern had a return on equity of 9.54% and a net margin of 13.28%. On average, research analysts predict that Citizens & Northern will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens & Northern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Citizens & Northern’s dividend payout ratio is 75.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens & Northern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens & Northern during the first quarter valued at $1,498,000. Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens & Northern in the 4th quarter worth about $647,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Citizens & Northern in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Citizens & Northern during the 2nd quarter worth about $977,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Citizens & Northern during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,685,000. 30.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens & Northern Company Profile

Citizens & Northern Corporation is the bank holding company for Citizens & Northern Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1888, the company has cultivated deep roots in north central Pennsylvania and selected counties in upstate New York, offering a broad spectrum of banking services tailored to individuals, families and local businesses.

Through its flagship banking subsidiary, Citizens & Northern provides personal deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts.