Citizens & Northern Co. (NASDAQ:CZNC) Short Interest Down 8.9% in July

Citizens & Northern Co. (NASDAQ:CZNC) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 73,000 shares, a decline of 8.9% from the July 15th total of 80,100 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 27,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens & Northern

In other news, Director Terry L. Lehman purchased 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $25,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 25,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $434,639. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have purchased 1,976 shares of company stock worth $33,613 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CZNC. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Citizens & Northern by 40.1% during 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 during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Citizens & Northern by 82.6% in the first 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. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens & Northern in the second quarter valued at approximately $187,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Citizens & Northern by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 98,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,768,000 after buying an additional 4,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens & Northern Corp grew its stake in Citizens & Northern by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 329,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,893,000 after acquiring an additional 21,443 shares during the period. 30.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens & Northern Stock Performance

NASDAQ CZNC traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $19.62. The stock had a trading volume of 10,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,004. Citizens & Northern has a 52-week low of $16.50 and a 52-week high of $23.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $18.39 and a 200 day moving average of $18.19. 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 stock has a market cap of $301.68 million, a P/E ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 0.47.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.03. Citizens & Northern had a net margin of 16.20% and a return on equity of 9.17%. The business had revenue of $27.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.90 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Citizens & Northern will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens & Northern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.71%. Citizens & Northern’s payout ratio is 73.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised Citizens & Northern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research 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.