Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Takes Position in Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 30,942 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $651,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.20% of Civista Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Civista Bancshares by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 52,528 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Civista Bancshares by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the bank’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Civista Bancshares by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 11,773 shares of the bank’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Civista Bancshares by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,999 shares of the bank’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Civista Bancshares by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 52,617 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Dennis E. Murray, Jr. purchased 6,143 shares of Civista Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $137,848.92. Following the purchase, the chairman now owns 19,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,995.28. This trade represents a 47.18% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Civista Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:CIVB opened at $23.21 on Friday. Civista Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.60 and a 52 week high of $23.90. The firm has a market cap of $360.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $40.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.33 million. Civista Bancshares had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 8.35%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Civista Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Civista Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Civista Bancshares’s payout ratio is 29.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIVB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Civista Bancshares from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Civista Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Civista Bancshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. DA Davidson set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Civista Bancshares in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Civista Bancshares from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.20.

About Civista Bancshares

Civista Bancshares, Inc operates as the financial holding company for Civista Bank that provides community banking services. It collects a range of customer deposits; and offers commercial and agriculture, commercial and residential real estate, farm real estate, real estate construction, consumer, and other loans, as well as letters of credit.