Citizens Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CZFS) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Citizens Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CZFS) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 32,668 shares, a decrease of 21.2% from the December 15th total of 41,456 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 9,151 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Based on an average trading volume of 9,151 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Citizens Financial Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CZFS traded up $1.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $64.40. The stock had a trading volume of 13,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,241. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 0.41. Citizens Financial Services has a 52 week low of $49.96 and a 52 week high of $65.80.

Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $28.99 million for the quarter. Citizens Financial Services had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 10.91%. On average, research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Services will post 6.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. Citizens Financial Services’s payout ratio is 28.05%.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Services

In other news, CEO Randall E. Black acquired 478 shares of Citizens Financial Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $54.10 per share, for a total transaction of $25,859.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 44,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,381,103.30. This trade represents a 1.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders acquired 516 shares of company stock worth $27,903 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Services

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $249,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $296,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 183.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 757 shares during the period. Citizens & Northern Corp raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Services by 1.0% during the second quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 117,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Citizens Financial Services by 82.0% in the second quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CZFS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Citizens Financial Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Citizens Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

About Citizens Financial Services

Citizens Financial Services, Inc (NASDAQ:CZFS) is a bank holding company headquartered in Elderton, Pennsylvania, providing a range of retail and commercial banking services through its primary subsidiary, Citizens Savings Bank. The company offers deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, supported by online and mobile banking platforms tailored to personal and business clients.

Beyond deposit-taking, Citizens Financial Services underwrites a variety of lending products, including residential mortgage loans, home equity financing, commercial real estate loans, construction lending and consumer installment loans.