Citizens Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZFS) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Citizens Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZFS - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 33,700 shares, a growth of 16.2% from the November 15th total of 29,000 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 19,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Services

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Services in the second quarter worth $32,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Citizens Financial Services by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 5,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 286.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,924 shares of the company's stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 4,390 shares in the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 1.0% during the third quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 15,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Services by 22.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,761 shares of the company's stock worth $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 4,369 shares during the period. 22.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Services Trading Up 1.5 %

CZFS traded up $1.03 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $70.42. 8,220 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,892. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Citizens Financial Services has a 52 week low of $38.52 and a 52 week high of $75.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $335.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.58.

Citizens Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Citizens Financial Services's payout ratio is 33.85%.

Citizens Financial Services Company Profile

Citizens Financial Services, Inc, a bank holding company, provides various banking products and services for individual, business, governmental, and institutional customers. The company accepts various deposit products, such as checking, savings, and time deposit accounts. Its loan products include residential, commercial, and agricultural real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans; state and political subdivision loans; and consumer loans, as well as various other specialized financial services.