Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

Several other analysts have also recently commented on CIVB. Hovde Group upgraded Civista Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of Civista Bancshares in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.40.

Civista Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CIVB stock opened at $20.64 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.76. Civista Bancshares has a one year low of $13.60 and a one year high of $23.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $324.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 0.81.

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.63 EPS 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%. Sell-side 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. 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. Civista Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Civista Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $45,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Civista Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $102,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Civista Bancshares by 77.0% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,691 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 3,347 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Civista Bancshares by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,999 shares of the bank’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Civista Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. Institutional investors 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.