Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Citizens Financial Services Inc. $CZFS

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Services Inc. by 47.3%, leaving it with approximately 7,393 shares valued at $429,000.
• Citizens Financial Services recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, maintaining a healthy payout ratio of 30.17% and yielding an annualized return of 3.3%.
• Analyst upgrades for Citizens Financial Services have occurred, with Wall Street Zen raising the stock rating from "hold" to "buy" in early August.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CZFS - Free Report) by 47.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,393 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,627 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Citizens Financial Services worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,613 shares of the company's stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 6,129 shares of the company's stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 33.9% during the 1st quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 4,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 1,092 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 22.49% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Services Price Performance

CZFS opened at $61.49 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $295.77 million, a PE ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 0.49. Citizens Financial Services Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.96 and a 1 year high of $74.65.

Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $27.28 million during the quarter. Citizens Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 18.54%. Sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Services Inc. will post 6.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Citizens Financial Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Citizens Financial Services's payout ratio is presently 30.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd.

About Citizens Financial Services

Citizens Financial Services, Inc, a bank holding company, provides various banking products and services for individual, business, governmental, and institutional customers. The company accepts various deposit products, such as checking, savings, and time deposit accounts. Its loan products include residential, commercial, and agricultural real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans; state and political subdivision loans; and consumer loans, as well as various other specialized financial services.

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