Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CZNC. Zacks Research raised shares of Citizens & Northern from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Citizens & Northern from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens & Northern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.50.

Citizens & Northern Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CZNC opened at $26.13 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $468.51 million, a PE ratio of 17.66 and a beta of 0.40. 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 has a twelve month low of $18.87 and a twelve month high of $26.35.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $39.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.60 million. Citizens & Northern had a return on equity of 9.54% and a net margin of 13.28%. On average, analysts anticipate that Citizens & Northern will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens & Northern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Citizens & Northern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.68%.

Institutional Trading of Citizens & Northern

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CZNC. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Citizens & Northern by 1.1% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 53,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,194,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Citizens & Northern by 9.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Citizens & Northern during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Citizens & Northern by 4.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after acquiring an additional 1,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Citizens & Northern by 932.6% during the 1st 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 during the period. 30.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citizens & Northern Company Profile

Citizens & Northern Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. Its principal subsidiary, Citizens & Northern Bank, provides community banking services to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations and municipalities.

The bank offers deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer loans, commercial loans, agricultural financing and other credit products. It also provides electronic and digital banking, cash-management services, trust and fiduciary services, investment services and insurance-related products.

Founded in 1864, Citizens & Northern has a long history of serving communities in north-central Pennsylvania and the Southern Tier of New York.