Citizens Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CZFS) Short Interest Down 23.8% in April

Key Points

• Short interest dropped 23.8% in April to 38,050 shares (about 0.8% of the stock), leaving a short-interest ratio of roughly 6.0 days based on average daily volume.
• Quarterly results topped estimates as Citizens reported $2.16 EPS versus $1.98 expected and $29.8M revenue (vs. $29.1M), with a net margin of 21.08% and analysts projecting 7.81 EPS for the year.
• The shares fell 3.6% to $64.81, the company has a market cap of ~$311.5M and a P/E of 8.46, and it pays a quarterly dividend of $0.50 (annualized $2.00) for a ~3.1% yield; consensus analyst rating is "Buy."

Citizens Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CZFS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 38,050 shares, a decrease of 23.8% from the March 31st total of 49,941 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 6,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.0 days.

Citizens Financial Services Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of Citizens Financial Services stock traded down $2.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $64.81. 2,057 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,334. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.43. Citizens Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $49.99 and a fifty-two week high of $69.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $311.52 million, a P/E ratio of 8.46 and a beta of 0.39.

Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.18. Citizens Financial Services had a net margin of 21.08% and a return on equity of 11.36%. The company had revenue of $29.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.10 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Services will post 7.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Citizens Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 39.4% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 658 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 93.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 447 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 28,344 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,664,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,591 shares of the company's stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 6,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. 22.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CZFS shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Citizens Financial Services from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Citizens Financial Services from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Services has a consensus rating of "Buy".

Citizens Financial Services Company Profile

Citizens Financial Services, Inc NASDAQ: CZFS is a bank holding company headquartered in Elderton, Pennsylvania, providing a range of retail and commercial banking services through its primary subsidiary, Citizens Savings Bank. The company offers deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, supported by online and mobile banking platforms tailored to personal and business clients.

Beyond deposit-taking, Citizens Financial Services underwrites a variety of lending products, including residential mortgage loans, home equity financing, commercial real estate loans, construction lending and consumer installment loans.

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