Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Citizens & Northern Corp (NASDAQ:CZNC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $28.53 and last traded at $28.47, with a volume of 61,813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CZNC. Zacks Research raised shares of Citizens & Northern from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Citizens & Northern from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Citizens & Northern from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens & Northern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.50.

Citizens & Northern Trading Up 1.6%

The company has a market cap of $510.47 million, a PE ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.55.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $39.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.28 million. Citizens & Northern had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 9.54%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Citizens & Northern Corp will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Citizens & Northern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. This is a boost from Citizens & Northern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Citizens & Northern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens & Northern

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens & Northern during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,685,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Citizens & Northern by 2.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 620,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,857,000 after acquiring an additional 16,030 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Citizens & Northern in the second quarter worth $2,859,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens & Northern during the first quarter worth $1,498,000. Finally, Hudock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 1.6% during the third quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 51,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 30.83% of the company’s stock.

Citizens & Northern Company Profile

Citizens & Northern Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. Through its principal subsidiary, Citizens & Northern Bank, the company provides community banking services to individuals, families, businesses and organizations.

The bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, residential mortgages, agricultural loans, cash-management services and online and mobile banking. It also provides wealth management, trust and investment services, as well as insurance and other financial solutions through affiliated businesses and service providers.

Founded in 1864, Citizens & Northern has a long history of serving communities in north-central Pennsylvania and nearby areas of southern New York.