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

Citizens & Northern Corp (NASDAQ:CZNC) reached a new 52-week high on Monday. The company traded as high as $27.78 and last traded at $28.07, with a volume of 114,798 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CZNC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Citizens & Northern from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Citizens & Northern from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Citizens & Northern from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens & Northern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Citizens & Northern Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $500.87 million, a PE ratio of 18.87 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $25.67 and a 200 day moving average of $23.84.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $40.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.28 million. Citizens & Northern had a return on equity of 9.54% and a net margin of 13.28%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens & Northern Corp will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens & Northern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This is a boost from Citizens & Northern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Citizens & Northern’s dividend payout ratio is 75.68%.

Institutional Trading of Citizens & Northern

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Citizens & Northern in the second quarter worth approximately $31,685,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 620,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,857,000 after purchasing an additional 16,030 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Citizens & Northern during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,859,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in Citizens & Northern in the first quarter worth approximately $1,498,000. Finally, Hudock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Citizens & Northern by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 51,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. 30.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Citizens & Northern

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.