Citizens & Northern Co. (NASDAQ:CZNC) Short Interest Up 13.1% in June

Citizens & Northern Co. (NASDAQ:CZNC) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 79,300 shares, a growth of 13.1% from the May 31st total of 70,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 21,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Citizens & Northern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. TheStreet downgraded Citizens & Northern from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th.

Insider Transactions at Citizens & Northern

In other news, Director Terry L. Lehman purchased 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $25,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 25,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $434,639. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 2,457 shares of company stock worth $42,527. 3.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citizens & Northern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fulton Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens & Northern in the 4th quarter valued at about $213,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 5,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,409 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 742,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,941,000 after acquiring an additional 13,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 82.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 3,440 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 30.83% of the company’s stock.

Citizens & Northern Price Performance

NASDAQ CZNC traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $17.23. The company had a trading volume of 19,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,749. Citizens & Northern has a 52 week low of $16.50 and a 52 week high of $23.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $265.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.47.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Citizens & Northern had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 16.20%. The business had revenue of $25.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.74 million. Equities research analysts expect that Citizens & Northern will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens & Northern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.50%. Citizens & Northern’s payout ratio is currently 73.68%.

Citizens & Northern Company Profile

Citizens & Northern Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Citizens & Northern Bank that provides various banking and related services to individual and corporate customers. Its deposit products include various types of checking accounts, passbook and statement savings, money market accounts, interest checking accounts, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; and lending products, including commercial, mortgage, and consumer loans, as well as specialized instruments, such as commercial letters-of-credit.