Civista Bancshares’ (CIVB) “Equal Weight” Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $24.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Civista Bancshares from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Civista Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Civista Bancshares Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of Civista Bancshares stock opened at $22.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Civista Bancshares has a 12-month low of $13.60 and a 12-month high of $23.69. The company has a market capitalization of $347.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $21.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.34.

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.10. Civista Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 13.12%. On average, analysts forecast that Civista Bancshares will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Civista Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a positive change from Civista Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Civista Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Civista Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Civista Bancshares by 0.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 795,154 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,316,000 after purchasing an additional 6,234 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Civista Bancshares by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 348,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,208,000 after purchasing an additional 9,501 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Civista Bancshares by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 298,557 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,320,000 after buying an additional 3,112 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Civista Bancshares by 130.8% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 63,456 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after buying an additional 35,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Civista Bancshares by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 52,617 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after buying an additional 2,482 shares in the last quarter. 52.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Civista Bancshares

Civista Bancshares, Inc operates as the financial holding company for Civista Bank that provides community banking services. It collects a range of customer deposits; and offers commercial and agriculture, commercial and residential real estate, farm real estate, real estate construction, consumer, and other loans, as well as letters of credit.