Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Civista Bancshares from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group raised Civista Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Civista Bancshares in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Civista Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.50.

Civista Bancshares Stock Up 1.0 %

Civista Bancshares stock opened at $21.44 on Thursday. Civista Bancshares has a twelve month low of $13.60 and a twelve month high of $23.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $337.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 0.81.

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.10. Civista Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 12.96%. As a group, research analysts expect that Civista Bancshares will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Civista Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This is an increase from Civista Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Civista Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Civista Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Civista Bancshares by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 348,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,208,000 after buying an additional 9,501 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Civista Bancshares by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 298,557 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,320,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Civista Bancshares by 130.8% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 63,456 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 35,968 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Civista Bancshares by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 52,617 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Civista Bancshares by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 52,528 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. 52.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Civista Bancshares

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.