City Holding (NASDAQ:CHCO) Short Interest Up 5.7% in December

City Holding (NASDAQ:CHCO) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 956,600 shares, an increase of 5.7% from the November 30th total of 905,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 53,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 17.9 days. Currently, 6.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at City

In other City news, EVP John A. Derito sold 1,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.93, for a total transaction of $170,203.99. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,757 shares in the company, valued at $3,937,696.01. This represents a 4.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director C Dallas Kayser sold 1,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.33, for a total transaction of $237,860.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,151,521.21. This represents a 7.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,092 shares of company stock worth $1,196,697 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On City

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of City by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in City by 6.4% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,539 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $907,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of City by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,538 shares of the bank’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of City by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 87,988 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,349,000 after purchasing an additional 4,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of City by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 550,985 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,542,000 after purchasing an additional 10,740 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of City in a report on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of City from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

City Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of CHCO stock opened at $117.34 on Friday. City has a twelve month low of $97.50 and a twelve month high of $137.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $126.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.58. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 0.49.

City (NASDAQ:CHCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $98.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.90 million. City had a net margin of 31.18% and a return on equity of 16.60%. Equities analysts forecast that City will post 7.84 EPS for the current year.

City Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. City’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.56%.

City Company Profile

City Holding Company operates as a holding company for City National Bank of West Virginia that provides various banking, trust, and investment management, and other financial solutions in the United States. The company offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts.