Citizens & Northern Co. (NASDAQ:CZNC) Short Interest Up 13.1% in June

Citizens & Northern Co. (NASDAQ:CZNC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 79,300 shares, an increase of 13.1% from the May 31st total of 70,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 21,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 0.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CZNC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TheStreet lowered Citizens & Northern from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citizens & Northern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th.

Citizens & Northern Stock Down 0.9 %

Citizens & Northern stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $17.23. The stock had a trading volume of 19,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,749. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $17.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.73. Citizens & Northern has a 12 month low of $16.50 and a 12 month high of $23.50. The stock has a market cap of $265.00 million, a P/E ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.47.

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Citizens & Northern had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 16.20%. The business had revenue of $25.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.74 million. Research analysts predict that Citizens & Northern will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Citizens & Northern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.50%. Citizens & Northern’s payout ratio is currently 73.68%.

Insider Transactions at Citizens & Northern

In other news, Director Terry L. Lehman purchased 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $25,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 25,567 shares in the company, valued at $434,639. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 2,457 shares of company stock valued at $42,527. Corporate insiders own 3.95% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens & Northern

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fulton Bank N.A. bought a new stake in Citizens & Northern in the 4th quarter valued at about $213,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens & Northern by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 1,409 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Citizens & Northern by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 5,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 1,605 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Citizens & Northern by 82.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 3,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Citizens & Northern by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 742,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,941,000 after acquiring an additional 13,488 shares during the period. 30.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Citizens & Northern

Citizens & Northern Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Citizens & Northern Bank that provides various banking and related services to individual and corporate customers. Its deposit products include various types of checking accounts, passbook and statement savings, money market accounts, interest checking accounts, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; and lending products, including commercial, mortgage, and consumer loans, as well as specialized instruments, such as commercial letters-of-credit.