Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Separately, Piper Sandler raised Citizens & Northern to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd.

Citizens & Northern Price Performance

Shares of Citizens & Northern stock opened at $21.91 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.47. Citizens & Northern has a twelve month low of $16.50 and a twelve month high of $22.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $337.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.08. Citizens & Northern had a return on equity of 8.28% and a net margin of 14.47%. Analysts forecast that Citizens & Northern will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Citizens & Northern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Citizens & Northern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.11%. Citizens & Northern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens & Northern

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Citizens & Northern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens & Northern during the third quarter worth $102,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 290.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 19,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 14,418 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens & Northern by 186.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 24,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 15,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 95,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 9,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 30.83% of the company’s stock.

Citizens & Northern Company Profile

Citizens & Northern Corp. is a holding company, which engages in community banking. It provides a full range of banking and mortgage services to individual and corporate customers in North Central Pennsylvania and Southern New York State. The firm’s lending products include mortgage loans, commercial loans, and consumer loans.