City Holding Company (NASDAQ:CHCO) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• City Holding Company has a consensus analyst rating of "Hold", based on six covering analysts. The average 1-year price target is $134.25, with most analysts rating it a hold and one a buy.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting $2.20 EPS versus the $2.17 estimate, while revenue matched forecasts at $79.25 million. Analysts expect full-year earnings of $8.99 per share.
• City also announced a stock buyback program for up to 1 million shares and a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 2.6%.

Shares of City Holding Company (NASDAQ:CHCO - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $134.25.

Several research firms have recently commented on CHCO. Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of City from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of City from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David L. Bumgarner sold 1,161 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.50, for a total value of $144,544.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,327,917. This trade represents a 9.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael T. Quinlan, Jr. sold 1,210 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.09, for a total value of $152,568.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $417,862.26. This represents a 26.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,975 shares of company stock valued at $1,622,853. Corporate insiders own 1.75% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On City

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in shares of City by 136.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 123,803 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,335,000 after purchasing an additional 71,436 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its holdings in shares of City by 63.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 77,039 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,543,000 after purchasing an additional 29,828 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of City by 11.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 212,093 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,272,000 after purchasing an additional 22,536 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in City by 55.0% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 61,686 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,373,000 after buying an additional 21,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in City during the second quarter worth about $2,216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.43% of the company's stock.

City Price Performance

City stock opened at $134.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.91. City has a 12 month low of $113.21 and a 12 month high of $138.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.87 and a beta of 0.49.

City (NASDAQ:CHCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $79.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.25 million. City had a net margin of 32.72% and a return on equity of 16.58%. Equities analysts predict that City will post 8.99 earnings per share for the current year.

City declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, March 25th that allows the company to buyback 1,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

City Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. City's payout ratio is currently 38.33%.

About City

City Holding Company NASDAQ: CHCO is a bank holding company headquartered in Morgantown, West Virginia. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, City National Bank, the company offers a full range of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations. Its operations emphasize community-oriented banking, combining local decision-making with access to digital banking platforms.

The company's product portfolio includes deposit accounts such as checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as consumer and commercial lending solutions ranging from personal loans and mortgages to commercial real estate and equipment financing.

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