City (NASDAQ:CHCO) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• City (NASDAQ:CHCO) was upgraded from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a positive shift in analyst sentiment.
• Equity analysts have raised their target prices for City, with the consensus now at $133.25, indicating a strong outlook for the stock.
• In recent trading, City shares opened at $127.66 and have a significant 12-month performance range, with a low of $102.22 and a high of $137.28.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of City (NASDAQ:CHCO - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms have also commented on CHCO. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of City from $128.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Hovde Group raised their target price on City from $130.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on City from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $133.25.

City Stock Performance

CHCO traded down $1.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $125.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 96,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 157,330. City has a fifty-two week low of $102.22 and a fifty-two week high of $137.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.92.

City (NASDAQ:CHCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $78.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.10 million. City had a return on equity of 16.30% and a net margin of 31.35%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that City will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

City Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. City's dividend payout ratio is 38.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James M. Parsons acquired 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $122.38 per share, with a total value of $269,236.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $330,426. The trade was a 440.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO David L. Bumgarner sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total value of $52,038.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,203,010. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 2,625 shares of company stock worth $321,993 and have sold 5,341 shares worth $673,516. 1.87% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CHCO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of City by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,498 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,481,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of City by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,981 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,408,000 after buying an additional 1,340 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of City by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,651 shares of the bank's stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of City by 69.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 280 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of City by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,468 shares of the bank's stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 693 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.43% of the company's stock.

City Company Profile

City Holding Company operates as a holding company for City National Bank of West Virginia that provides various banking, trust, and investment management, and other financial solutions in the United States. The company offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts.