Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB) Short Interest Down 15.5% in March

Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB) saw a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 116,800 shares, a drop of 15.5% from the March 15th total of 138,300 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 28,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Civista Bancshares

In other Civista Bancshares news, SVP Michael D. Mulford purchased 2,000 shares of Civista Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.82 per share, with a total value of $31,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,640. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Civista Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Civista Bancshares by 6.0% during the third quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 400,905 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,214,000 after acquiring an additional 22,564 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Civista Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $643,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Civista Bancshares by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 21,622 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Civista Bancshares by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 34,890 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 13,115 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Civista Bancshares by 3.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 84,954 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,317,000 after buying an additional 3,178 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.10% of the company’s stock.

Civista Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ CIVB traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $14.34. The stock had a trading volume of 21,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,942. Civista Bancshares has a 52-week low of $14.02 and a 52-week high of $19.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.11 and a 200 day moving average of $15.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $224.95 million, a P/E ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.78.

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The bank reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $38.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.40 million. Civista Bancshares had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. Sell-side analysts predict that Civista Bancshares will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Civista Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. Civista Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Civista Bancshares from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. TheStreet lowered shares of Civista Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Hovde Group started coverage on shares of Civista Bancshares in a report on Monday, April 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Civista Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.67.

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.