Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS) Shares Up 2.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Citizens Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CZFS)’s stock price shot up 2.3% on Wednesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $74.70 and last traded at $74.13. Approximately 10,155 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 12,393 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.44.

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Citizens Financial Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 93.5% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Services by 39.4% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 658 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Services by 2,022.8% during the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 537.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 3,225.0% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419 shares during the period. 22.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Services Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $66.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $346.61 million, a P/E ratio of 8.82 and a beta of 0.36.

Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.18. Citizens Financial Services had a net margin of 22.47% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The company had revenue of $29.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.10 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Services Inc. will post 8.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Citizens Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Citizens Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 24.91%.

About Citizens Financial Services

Citizens Financial Services, Inc (NASDAQ:CZFS) is a bank holding company headquartered in Elderton, Pennsylvania, providing a range of retail and commercial banking services through its primary subsidiary, Citizens Savings Bank. The company offers deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, supported by online and mobile banking platforms tailored to personal and business clients.

Beyond deposit-taking, Citizens Financial Services underwrites a variety of lending products, including residential mortgage loans, home equity financing, commercial real estate loans, construction lending and consumer installment loans.