Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Citizens & Northern to “Buy” from “Hold.” However, the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold,” with a consensus price target of $23.50.
• Shares opened at $25.39, near their 52-week high of $25.84, with a market capitalization of approximately $455 million. The company’s latest quarterly EPS of $0.02 missed estimates of $0.58, although revenue exceeded expectations.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.83% of the stock, with major holders including Vanguard, Dimensional Fund Advisors and Geode Capital Management increasing their positions.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on CZNC. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Citizens & Northern from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Citizens & Northern from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Citizens & Northern Price Performance

Shares of CZNC opened at $25.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $454.99 million, a P/E ratio of 23.29 and a beta of 0.41. Citizens & Northern has a 1 year low of $18.16 and a 1 year high of $25.84. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $22.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.60 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Citizens & Northern will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Citizens & Northern

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

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.

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