759,297 Shares in Citizens Financial Services Inc. $CZFS Bought by Nuveen LLC

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired 759,297 shares of Citizens Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CZFS), valued at approximately $44 million, making it a significant institutional investor with a 15.95% ownership in the company.
• Citizens Financial Services recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.76, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.62, while also announcing a dividend increase to $0.495 per share.
• Wall Street analysts have upgraded Citizens Financial Services from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, indicating positive market sentiment towards the company's future prospects.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CZFS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 759,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,077,000. Nuveen LLC owned 15.95% of Citizens Financial Services at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CZFS. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Citizens Financial Services by 295.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 842 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Citizens Financial Services Stock Up 0.3%

CZFS stock traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $57.20. The company had a trading volume of 2,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,790. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.64. The company has a market capitalization of $275.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 0.45. Citizens Financial Services Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.48 and a 52 week 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. Citizens Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 18.54%.The firm had revenue of $27.28 million during the quarter. As a group, equities 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.495 dividend. This is a boost from Citizens Financial Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Citizens Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.86%.

Citizens Financial Services Company Profile

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.