City (NASDAQ:CHCO) Stock Crosses Above 50-Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• City Holding’s stock briefly crossed above its 50-day moving average of $143.01, trading as high as $143.30 before closing at $141.69. Its 200-day moving average stood at $134.18.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive but measured: the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $139.33 target price, while recent brokerages raised their targets to $143–$145.
• City exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with $2.35 in EPS versus $2.23 forecast, and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share, or $4.00 annually, representing a 2.8% yield.

City Holding Company (NASDAQ:CHCO - Get Free Report)'s stock price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $143.01 and traded as high as $143.30. City shares last traded at $141.69, with a volume of 104,547 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CHCO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of City from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Hovde Group increased their price objective on City from $135.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised City from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, City has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $139.33.

City Stock Up 0.5%

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $143.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 0.49.

City (NASDAQ:CHCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $81.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $80.64 million. City had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 32.58%. On average, research analysts predict that City Holding Company will post 9.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

City Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. This is a positive change from City's previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. City's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Charles Hageboeck sold 4,485 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.96, for a total value of $650,145.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 43,998 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,377,950.08. This represents a 9.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sharon H. Rowe sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.96, for a total transaction of $57,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,522,520.96. This represents a 3.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought a total of 444 shares of company stock worth $59,740 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.75% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On City

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dupree Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in City by 59.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the bank's stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of City by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,321 shares of the bank's stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of City by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,058 shares of the bank's stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of City by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,934 shares of the bank's stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of City in the 2nd quarter valued at about $615,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.43% of the company's stock.

About City

City Holding Company is a bank holding company headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia. Through its principal subsidiary, City National Bank, the company provides a range of financial services to individuals, businesses and organizations.

City National Bank offers consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, business loans, personal loans, mortgage services and other traditional banking products. The bank also provides wealth management, trust, investment and related financial planning services.

Founded in 1982, City Holding Company serves customers through a community banking network operating primarily in West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky.

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