Citadel Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Middlefield Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:MBCN)

Citadel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Middlefield Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:MBCN) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,608 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,827 shares during the quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Middlefield Banc worth $522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MBCN. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Middlefield Banc by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 80,885 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Middlefield Banc by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 38,290 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 3,508 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Middlefield Banc by 112.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 25,831 shares of the bank’s stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 13,651 shares during the period. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. increased its stake in Middlefield Banc by 1,250.6% during the fourth quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. now owns 19,462 shares of the bank’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 18,021 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Middlefield Banc by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 18,308 shares of the bank’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Middlefield Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th.

Middlefield Banc Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of MBCN stock opened at $29.35 on Monday. Middlefield Banc Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $20.61 and a fifty-two week high of $34.00. The stock has a market cap of $237.18 million, a P/E ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Middlefield Banc (NASDAQ:MBCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.12. Middlefield Banc had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm had revenue of $18.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.23 million. On average, analysts forecast that Middlefield Banc Corp. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Middlefield Banc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Middlefield Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.79%.

Middlefield Banc Company Profile

Middlefield Banc Corp. operates as the bank holding company for The Middlefield Banking Company that provides various commercial banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, small business owners, and retail customers in northeastern and central Ohio. It offers checking, savings, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market accounts, time certificates of deposit, commercial loans, real estate loans, various consumer loans, safe deposit facilities, and travelers' checks.