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

Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 117,300 shares, an increase of 5.7% from the May 31st total of 111,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 33,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Civista Bancshares Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CIVB opened at $14.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.80 million, a P/E ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Civista Bancshares has a one year low of $13.60 and a one year high of $19.80. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.51.

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.06). Civista Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 16.38%. The business had revenue of $58.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.01 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Civista Bancshares will post 1.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Civista Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 6th. Civista Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.47%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Civista Bancshares

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Civista Bancshares by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 812,806 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,501,000 after purchasing an additional 8,797 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Civista Bancshares by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 605,421 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,164,000 after buying an additional 5,400 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new stake in Civista Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $3,688,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Civista Bancshares by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 47,700 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $880,000 after acquiring an additional 4,212 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Civista Bancshares by 35.9% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 47,421 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531 shares during the last quarter. 52.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CIVB shares. TheStreet downgraded Civista Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (down previously from $21.00) on shares of Civista Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Civista Bancshares in a report on Monday, April 1st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Civista Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.75.

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.