Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) Sets New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Citizens & Northern shares reached a new 52-week high, trading around $28.07 and up 4.9%, while the stock’s consensus rating remains “Hold” with a $23.50 average price target.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.92, beating the $0.68 analyst consensus, although revenue of $40.07 million fell short of the $42.28 million estimate.
• Citizens & Northern raised its quarterly dividend from $0.28 to $0.30 per share, equating to a $1.20 annualized dividend and an approximately 4.3% yield.

Citizens & Northern Corp (NASDAQ:CZNC - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $27.78 and last traded at $28.07, with a volume of 114,798 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on CZNC shares. Wall Street Zen cut Citizens & Northern from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, October 18th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Citizens & Northern from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Friday. 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Citizens & Northern Trading Up 4.9%

The company's fifty day moving average is $25.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.84. The stock has a market cap of $500.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $40.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.28 million. Citizens & Northern had a return on equity of 9.54% and a net margin of 13.28%. On average, research analysts predict that Citizens & Northern Corp will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens & Northern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. This is an increase from Citizens & Northern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Citizens & Northern's dividend payout ratio is presently 75.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 70.5% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Hudock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Citizens & Northern by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 51,592 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens & Northern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $450,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Citizens & Northern during the second quarter worth $367,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Citizens & Northern during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. 30.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens & Northern Company Profile

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.

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