Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Citizens & Northern from “buy” to “strong-buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “hold” with a $23.50 price target.
• Citizens & Northern exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.79 EPS versus $0.63 expected and revenue of $39.65 million versus $38.60 million forecast.
• The stock opened at $24.94, near its 52-week high of $26.37, with a market capitalization of approximately $447 million; institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.83% of shares.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on CZNC. Zacks Research raised shares of Citizens & Northern from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Citizens & Northern from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.50.

Citizens & Northern Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CZNC opened at $24.94 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $25.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.58. The stock has a market cap of $447.17 million, a PE ratio of 16.85 and a beta of 0.41. Citizens & Northern has a one year low of $18.87 and a one year high of $26.37.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $39.65 million during 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, analysts forecast that Citizens & Northern will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens & Northern

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CZNC. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Citizens & Northern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 932.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 6,099 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens & Northern in the second quarter worth approximately $367,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens & Northern in the second quarter worth approximately $399,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Citizens & Northern by 9.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,956 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523 shares during the last quarter. 30.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Citizens & Northern

Citizens & Northern Corporation is a bank holding company for Citizens & Northern Bank, a community banking institution headquartered in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, the bank serves individuals, families, farmers, businesses and organizations through a network of offices in north-central Pennsylvania and southern New York.

Citizens & Northern Bank offers a range of traditional banking products, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer loans, residential mortgages, commercial loans and agricultural lending.

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