Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold”

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised Citizens Financial Services from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Citizens Financial Services Price Performance

Citizens Financial Services stock opened at $76.38 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $367.01 million, a PE ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 0.36. Citizens Financial Services has a one year low of $49.99 and a one year high of $79.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.69.

Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.14. Citizens Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 22.47%.The business had revenue of $29.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.30 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Services will post 8.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Citizens Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. Citizens Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Citizens Financial Services by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 246,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,987 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Services by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 110,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 16.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 28,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,748,000 after purchasing an additional 4,115 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 1.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 28,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,664,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 28.2% in the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 20,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after buying an additional 4,553 shares in the last quarter. 22.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.