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Civista Bancshrares (CIVB) Up 1.8% on New Share-Buyback Plan

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Shares of Civista Bancshares Inc. (CIVB - Free Report) rose 1.8% following the announcement of a new share-repurchase plan. The company has authorized to repurchase up to 0.5 million shares till Dec 18, 2019.

Civista Bancshares’ president and CEO, Dennis G. Shaffer, said, "We remain committed to our strategy of growing our franchise.  This repurchase program will allow us to be opportunistic given current market dynamics and further deliver value to our shareholders."

Noticeably, Civista Bancshares has been paying quarterly dividends, along with regular escalation. Since 2011, the company has raised its dividend five times. The dividend was last hiked in October 2018, by 29% to 9 cents per share.

So, is this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock worth a look based on the latest share-repurchase plan? To identify if the stock is worth considering, let’s dig deeper into its fundamental and financial strengths.

Revenue Growth: The company witnessed a compound annual growth rate of 7.1% over a five-year period (2013-2017). Its projected sales growth of 16.6% in 2018 and 24.15% in 2019 indicates continued improvement in revenues.

Earnings Strength: Civista Bancshares recorded 22% earnings growth over the last three-five years. This earnings momentum is likely to continue in the near term as well, as reflected by the company’s projected EPS growth rate of 31.6% and 10.9% for 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Further, Civista Bancshares has an impressive earnings surprise history. The company’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, the average beat being 15.6%.

Civista Bancshares’ long-term (three-five years) estimated EPS growth rate of 8% promises rewards for investors, over the long run.

Stock seems undervalued: Based on its price-to-book (P/B) and price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, Civista Bancshares seems to be undervalued. The company’s P/B ratio of 0.94 is compared to the industry average of 1.22. Additionally, the P/E ratio of the company is 9.67, lower than the industry average of 11.25. Furthermore, the stock has lost 22.5% compared with the industry’s 18.2% decline in the past year.


Additionally, Civista Bancshares has a Value Score of B. The Value Score condenses all valuation metrics into one actionable score that helps investors steer clear of ‘value traps’ and to identify stocks that are truly trading at a discount. Our research shows that stocks with Style Scores of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), offer the best upside potential.

Leverage: Civista Bancshares has a debt/equity ratio of 0.63 compared to industry average of 0.45. This indicates a relatively high debt burden and may lead to lower liquidity in the future.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks to consider are Chemung Financial Corp. (CHMG - Free Report) and Ashford Inc. sporting a Zacks Rank #1, and Old Second Bancorp (OSBC - Free Report) , carrying a Zacks Rank of 2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Chemung Financial’s earnings estimate for the current year has been stable in the current year. Also, the stock has appreciated 10.5% in the past two years.

Old Second Bancorp’s earnings estimate for 2018 has been revised upward in the past 60 days. Further, the company’s shares have gained 14.7% over the past two years.

Ashford’s 2018 earnings estimate has been revised upward in the past 30 days. Also, the stock has rallied 28% in two years’ time.

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