Citizens Financial Services Inc. $CZFS Shares Acquired by Hudock Inc.

Key Points

• Hudock Inc. increased its Citizens Financial Services stake by 91.5% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 78,092 shares valued at approximately $5.66 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 22.49% of CZFS.
• Analyst opinions are mixed but lean positive: Zacks Research and Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock to “Hold,” while Weiss Ratings upgraded it to “Buy.” MarketBeat reports an overall average rating of “Buy.”
• Citizens Financial Services exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.12 in EPS versus the $1.98 consensus and $29.71 million in revenue. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, representing a 2.5% annualized yield.

Hudock Inc. grew its stake in Citizens Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CZFS - Free Report) by 91.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,092 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 37,305 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Services accounts for 0.7% of Hudock Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Hudock Inc. owned 1.62% of Citizens Financial Services worth $5,657,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 39.4% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 658 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Citizens Financial Services by 93.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 447 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Citizens Financial Services by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 28,344 shares of the company's stock worth $1,664,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Citizens Financial Services by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,591 shares of the company's stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 510 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 brokerages have recently weighed in on CZFS. Zacks Research lowered Citizens Financial Services from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Citizens Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Services from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Services has an average rating of "Buy".

Citizens Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CZFS traded down $0.66 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $82.26. 22,185 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,200. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $77.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.12. The stock has a market cap of $395.67 million, a P/E ratio of 9.62 and a beta of 0.36. Citizens Financial Services Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.35 and a 12-month high of $84.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.14. Citizens Financial Services had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 23.31%.The company had revenue of $29.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.30 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Services Inc. will post 8.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Citizens Financial Services's payout ratio is currently 23.86%.

Citizens Financial Services 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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