Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) Reaches New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Citizens & Northern shares reached a new 52-week high of $28.53, well above the analyst consensus price target of $23.50. Analysts’ average rating remains “Hold,” with one Buy and two Hold ratings.
• The bank exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.92 versus the $0.68 consensus estimate, although revenue of $39.56 million fell short of the expected $42.28 million.
• Citizens & Northern increased its quarterly dividend to $0.30 from $0.28, equating to an annualized dividend of $1.20 and a 4.2% yield; its payout ratio is 75.68%.

Citizens & Northern Corp (NASDAQ:CZNC - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $28.53 and last traded at $28.47, with a volume of 61,813 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $28.03.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CZNC shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Citizens & Northern from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Citizens & Northern from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, October 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Citizens & Northern from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.50.

Citizens & Northern Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $510.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.55.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $39.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $42.28 million. Citizens & Northern had a return on equity of 9.54% and a net margin of 13.28%. As a group, research analysts expect that Citizens & Northern Corp will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens & Northern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a $0.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Citizens & Northern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Citizens & Northern's dividend payout ratio is 75.68%.

Institutional Trading of Citizens & Northern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CZNC. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in Citizens & Northern by 70.5% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 1,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Citizens & Northern in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Citizens & Northern by 932.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 6,099 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Citizens & Northern in the second quarter worth approximately $367,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Citizens & Northern in the second quarter worth approximately $399,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.83% of the company's stock.

About Citizens & Northern

Citizens & Northern Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. Through its principal subsidiary, Citizens & Northern Bank, the company provides community banking services to individuals, families, businesses and organizations.

The bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, residential mortgages, agricultural loans, cash-management services and online and mobile banking. It also provides wealth management, trust and investment services, as well as insurance and other financial solutions through affiliated businesses and service providers.

Founded in 1864, Citizens & Northern has a long history of serving communities in north-central Pennsylvania and nearby areas of southern New York.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.