Nuveen LLC Makes New Investment in Citizens Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CZFS)

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 acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CZFS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 759,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,077,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 15.95% of Citizens Financial Services at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Services by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 40,504 shares of the company's stock worth $2,564,000 after buying an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Services by 39,858.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,975 shares of the company's stock worth $1,392,000 after buying an additional 23,915 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Services by 127.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,576 shares of the company's stock worth $1,049,000 after buying an additional 9,304 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Services by 99.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,734 shares of the company's stock worth $743,000 after buying an additional 5,840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Services during the first quarter worth $661,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.49% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ CZFS opened at $56.70 on Friday. Citizens Financial Services Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.87 and a 1 year high of $74.65. 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 $272.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.77.

Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Citizens Financial Services had a net margin of 18.54% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The firm had revenue of $27.28 million during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Services Inc. will post 6.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.495 dividend. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This is a positive change from Citizens Financial Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Citizens Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CZFS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Citizens Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CZFS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.