Insider Buying: City (NASDAQ:CHCO) Director Buys $17,055.60 in Stock

City Holding Company (NASDAQ:CHCO) Director Diane Strong-Treister purchased 120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $142.13 per share, for a total transaction of $17,055.60. Following the purchase, the director owned 4,217 shares in the company, valued at $599,362.21. This trade represents a 2.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

City Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of City stock traded down $1.39 during trading on Friday, reaching $142.01. 112,363 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 115,985. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $142.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.86. City Holding Company has a twelve month low of $113.21 and a twelve month high of $148.99.

City (NASDAQ:CHCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $81.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.64 million. City had a net margin of 32.58% and a return on equity of 16.34%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that City Holding Company will post 9.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

City Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This is an increase from City’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. City’s payout ratio is presently 43.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On City

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHCO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of City in the 2nd quarter valued at $270,231,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in City by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 470,344 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,217,000 after acquiring an additional 8,992 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in City in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $15,012,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of City by 2.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 70,262 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in City by 35.2% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 61,693 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,374,000 after purchasing an additional 16,060 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CHCO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on City from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Hovde Group boosted their price target on City from $135.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised City from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $139.33.

About City

City Holding Company (NASDAQ: CHCO) is a bank holding company headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia. Through its principal subsidiary, City National Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and institutions.

City National Bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, residential mortgages, credit cards, cash-management services, investment products and trust services. Its activities also include wealth management and related financial services designed for retail, business and institutional customers.

The company serves communities primarily in West Virginia, Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio through a network of branches and other delivery channels.