Royce & Associates LP Invests $5.58 Million in Civista Bancshares, Inc. $CIVB

Royce & Associates LP purchased a new stake in Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 274,958 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $5,584,000. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 1.42% of Civista Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIVB. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Civista Bancshares by 28.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 35,012 shares of the bank’s stock worth $684,000 after buying an additional 7,652 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Civista Bancshares by 22.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 64,535 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 11,918 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Civista Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $453,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Civista Bancshares by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 33,814 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Civista Bancshares during the second quarter worth $385,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.10% of the company’s stock.

Civista Bancshares Trading Up 0.9%

Civista Bancshares stock opened at $23.43 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.24. Civista Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.47 and a 52 week high of $25.59. The stock has a market cap of $452.50 million, a PE ratio of 8.81 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $46.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.43 million. Civista Bancshares had a net margin of 18.12% and a return on equity of 11.14%. Equities research analysts predict that Civista Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Civista Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Civista Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Civista Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on CIVB. Hovde Group upped their target price on Civista Bancshares from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Civista Bancshares from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Civista Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Civista Bancshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Civista Bancshares in a report on Friday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

About Civista Bancshares

Civista Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Saginaw, Michigan, operating through its wholly owned subsidiary, Civista Bank. The company offers a full suite of commercial and retail banking products and services to individuals, small- and mid-sized businesses, governmental entities and nonprofit organizations. Core offerings include deposit accounts, commercial and industrial loans, consumer and residential real estate mortgages, master-planned construction financing and treasury management solutions.

Beyond traditional banking, Civista Bancshares provides wealth management, trust and investment advisory services under the Civista Wealth Enterprises brand.