Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB) Short Interest Down 14.8% in January

Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 237,649 shares, a decrease of 14.8% from the January 15th total of 278,907 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 104,123 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 104,123 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Civista Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CIVB stock opened at $23.85 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $460.54 million, a PE ratio of 8.97 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.37 and a 200-day moving average of $21.87. Civista Bancshares has a one year low of $17.47 and a one year high of $25.59.

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.14. Civista Bancshares had a net margin of 18.12% and a return on equity of 11.14%. The business had revenue of $46.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.43 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Civista Bancshares will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Civista Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Civista Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Civista Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 27.07%.

Institutional Trading of Civista Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Civista Bancshares by 5.8% during the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,832 shares of the bank’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Civista Bancshares by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,603 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Civista Bancshares by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,819 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Civista Bancshares by 306.6% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,346 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Civista Bancshares in the second quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CIVB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Civista Bancshares in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered Civista Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Civista Bancshares from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Civista Bancshares in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price target on Civista Bancshares from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

About Civista Bancshares

Civista Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Saginaw, Michigan, operating through its wholly owned subsidiary, Civista Bank. The company offers a full suite of commercial and retail banking products and services to individuals, small- and mid-sized businesses, governmental entities and nonprofit organizations. Core offerings include deposit accounts, commercial and industrial loans, consumer and residential real estate mortgages, master-planned construction financing and treasury management solutions.

Beyond traditional banking, Civista Bancshares provides wealth management, trust and investment advisory services under the Civista Wealth Enterprises brand.