Citizens & Northern Co. (NASDAQ:CZNC) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Citizens & Northern Co. (NASDAQ:CZNC) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 58,000 shares, a drop of 14.3% from the February 13th total of 67,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 37,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Citizens & Northern Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CZNC opened at $20.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.69 million, a PE ratio of 12.31 and a beta of 0.44. Citizens & Northern has a 1 year low of $16.50 and a 1 year high of $22.68.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.08. Citizens & Northern had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 16.50%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Citizens & Northern will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens & Northern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from Citizens & Northern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.38%. Citizens & Northern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens & Northern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Citizens & Northern in the third quarter valued at $37,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Citizens & Northern by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 9,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 10,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 2,512 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 30.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Citizens & Northern to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Citizens & Northern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th.

About Citizens & Northern

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.