Short Interest in Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB) Decreases By 15.5%

Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 116,800 shares, a drop of 15.5% from the March 15th total of 138,300 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 28,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Insider Activity at Civista Bancshares

In other Civista Bancshares news, SVP Michael D. Mulford bought 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.82 per share, for a total transaction of $31,640.00. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,640. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Civista Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIVB. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Civista Bancshares by 33.1% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 20,005 shares of the bank's stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 4,975 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Civista Bancshares by 58.3% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 8,279 shares of the bank's stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 3,049 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Civista Bancshares by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 138,429 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,336,000 after purchasing an additional 6,097 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Civista Bancshares by 4.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 600,664 shares of the bank's stock worth $14,476,000 after buying an additional 26,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Civista Bancshares by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 680,374 shares of the bank's stock worth $16,397,000 after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIVB has been the subject of a number of research reports. TheStreet lowered shares of Civista Bancshares from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Hovde Group started coverage on Civista Bancshares in a report on Monday, April 1st. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on Civista Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Civista Bancshares from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $17.67.

Civista Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CIVB stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.34. 21,868 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 34,942. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.95 million, a PE ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.78. Civista Bancshares has a 12 month low of $14.02 and a 12 month high of $19.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $15.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.97.

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The bank reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $38.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.40 million. Civista Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 19.85%. On average, research analysts forecast that Civista Bancshares will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

Civista Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. Civista Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 23.36%.

Civista Bancshares Company Profile

Civista Bancshares, Inc operates as the financial holding company for Civista Bank that provides community banking services. It collects a range of customer deposits; and offers commercial and agriculture, commercial and residential real estate, farm real estate, real estate construction, consumer, and other loans, as well as letters of credit.

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