Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB) Short Interest Update

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Civista Bancshares Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ CIVB traded down $0.06 on Tuesday, hitting $14.50. The stock had a trading volume of 26,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,214. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $15.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.96. The stock has a market cap of $227.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Civista Bancshares has a 52-week low of $13.99 and a 52-week high of $19.80.

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The bank reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.06. Civista Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 19.85%. The firm had revenue of $38.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.40 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Civista Bancshares will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Civista Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. Civista Bancshares’s payout ratio is 23.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael D. Mulford bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.82 per share, for a total transaction of $31,640.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,640. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Civista Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in Civista Bancshares by 74.1% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,277 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Civista Bancshares by 294.7% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,451 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Civista Bancshares by 244.3% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,565 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Civista Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $83,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Civista Bancshares by 115.6% in the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 5,888 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 3,157 shares during the last quarter. 52.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.