Citizens & Northern Corp (NASDAQ:CZNC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.28

Key Points

• Citizens & Northern Corp declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, payable on August 14 to shareholders of record on August 3. The dividend implies an annualized yield of about 4.6%.
• The company’s dividend appears to be reasonably covered, with a 56.0% payout ratio and analysts expecting next year’s earnings to support the current annual dividend. Forecasts point to a future payout ratio of about 41.5%.
• Shares of CZNC rose to $24.35 in Friday trading, near its 52-week high of $25.00. The stock also has a low beta of 0.41, indicating relatively modest volatility.

Citizens & Northern Corp (NASDAQ:CZNC - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.28 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, August 14th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd.

Citizens & Northern has increased its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years. Citizens & Northern has a dividend payout ratio of 56.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Citizens & Northern to earn $2.70 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.5%.

Citizens & Northern Price Performance

CZNC stock traded up $1.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.35. The company had a trading volume of 81,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 51,650. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.29. The company has a market capitalization of $436.35 million, a P/E ratio of 22.34 and a beta of 0.41. Citizens & Northern has a 1 year low of $18.16 and a 1 year high of $25.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.56). Citizens & Northern had a net margin of 9.67% and a return on equity of 7.47%. The company had revenue of $36.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $35.60 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Citizens & Northern will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens & Northern

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Citizens & Northern by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 823,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,305,000 after purchasing an additional 18,165 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 2.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 620,287 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,857,000 after purchasing an additional 16,030 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 416,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,396,000 after purchasing an additional 50,343 shares during the last quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp increased its stake in shares of Citizens & Northern by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 361,412 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,290,000 after buying an additional 40,323 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Citizens & Northern by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 322,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,511,000 after buying an additional 4,806 shares during the last quarter. 30.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Citizens & Northern

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.

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