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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens & Northern

In other Citizens & Northern news, Director Terry L. Lehman acquired 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $25,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 25,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $434,639. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 2,457 shares of company stock valued at $42,527. Company insiders own 3.95% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens & Northern

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CZNC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Citizens & Northern by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 742,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,941,000 after acquiring an additional 13,488 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens & Northern during the 4th quarter worth about $213,000. 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 purchasing an additional 3,440 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Citizens & Northern by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409 shares during the period. 30.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citizens & Northern Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of CZNC traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $17.23. 19,073 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,749. The company 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 current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $265.00 million, a PE ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.47. Citizens & Northern has a 52 week low of $16.50 and a 52 week high of $23.50.

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

Citizens & Northern Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CZNC shares. TheStreet cut Citizens & Northern from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Citizens & Northern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th.

About Citizens & Northern

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.