Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings raised Citizens Financial Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Zacks Research cut Citizens Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Citizens Financial Services Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of CZFS opened at $86.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.41. Citizens Financial Services has a 1-year low of $53.14 and a 1-year high of $88.88. The stock has a market cap of $414.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.28. Citizens Financial Services had a return on equity of 12.46% and a net margin of 23.90%. The firm had revenue of $31.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.00 million. Equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Services will post 9.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Citizens Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CZFS. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,684,000. Citizens & Northern Corp boosted its position in Citizens Financial Services by 1.5% during the third quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 118,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,797 shares during the last quarter. Hudock Inc. boosted its position in Citizens Financial Services by 1.9% during the third quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 79,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,258,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Citizens Financial Services by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 28,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,748,000 after acquiring an additional 4,115 shares during the period. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in Citizens Financial Services by 28.2% in the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 20,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,553 shares during the period. 22.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Services Company Profile

Citizens Financial Services, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Mansfield, Pennsylvania. It operates through its principal subsidiary, First Citizens Community Bank, which provides financial services to individuals, families, businesses and organizations.

The bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, residential mortgages, business banking, cash-management services, online and mobile banking, wealth management and trust services. Its lending activities include real estate, agricultural, commercial and consumer loans.

Founded in 1932, First Citizens Community Bank serves communities in central and northern Pennsylvania and southern New York through branch locations and digital banking channels.