Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the four brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CIVB shares. StockNews.com upgraded Civista Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Hovde Group upgraded Civista Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Civista Bancshares in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Civista Bancshares from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Civista Bancshares Stock Performance

CIVB stock traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $21.76. 54,770 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,122. Civista Bancshares has a twelve month low of $13.60 and a twelve month high of $23.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $342.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.47.

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Civista Bancshares will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Civista Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is an increase from Civista Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. Civista Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 33.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Civista Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIVB. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Civista Bancshares by 45.2% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 45,161 shares of the bank's stock worth $950,000 after purchasing an additional 14,066 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Civista Bancshares by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 52,617 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,107,000 after buying an additional 2,482 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Civista Bancshares by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 52,528 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Civista Bancshares by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the bank's stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park National Corp OH increased its stake in shares of Civista Bancshares by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 25,275 shares of the bank's stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.