Capital City Bank Group (NASDAQ:CCBG) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Capital City Bank Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCBG)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $34.30, but opened at $36.33. Capital City Bank Group shares last traded at $35.93, with a volume of 1,794 shares.

The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.24. Capital City Bank Group had a return on equity of 11.45% and a net margin of 19.55%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share.

Capital City Bank Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. This is a positive change from Capital City Bank Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Capital City Bank Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CCBG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Capital City Bank Group from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Capital City Bank Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Capital City Bank Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CCBG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Capital City Bank Group by 80.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 87,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,084,000 after acquiring an additional 38,876 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Capital City Bank Group by 48.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 2,164 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Capital City Bank Group by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Capital City Bank Group by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 53,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after acquiring an additional 17,022 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Capital City Bank Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 341,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,049,000 after purchasing an additional 5,980 shares in the last quarter. 44.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Capital City Bank Group Stock Up 4.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $610.21 million, a PE ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.37.

Capital City Bank Group Company Profile

Capital City Bank Group, Inc operates as the financial holding company for Capital City Bank that provides a range of banking- related services to individual and corporate clients. The company offers financing for commercial business properties, equipment, inventories, and accounts receivable, as well as commercial leasing and letters of credit; treasury management services; and merchant credit card transaction processing services.