Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on CIVB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Civista Bancshares from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Civista Bancshares in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Hovde Group raised Civista Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.40.

Civista Bancshares Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:CIVB opened at $20.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.70. Civista Bancshares has a 12-month low of $13.60 and a 12-month high of $23.69. The firm has a market cap of $325.03 million, a P/E ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.10. Civista Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 12.96%. Equities analysts anticipate that Civista Bancshares will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Civista Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This is a positive change from Civista Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Civista Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 33.66%.

Institutional Trading of Civista Bancshares

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CIVB. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Civista Bancshares by 210.8% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 149,815 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,152,000 after purchasing an additional 101,610 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in Civista Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $1,774,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Civista Bancshares by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 191,316 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,025,000 after purchasing an additional 67,889 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Civista Bancshares by 166.8% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 92,687 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 57,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in Civista Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $1,059,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.10% of the company’s stock.

Civista Bancshares Company Profile

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.