Investors in Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB) had a good week, as its shares rose 6.0% to close at US$21.06 following the release of its first-quarter results. It looks like a credible result overall - although revenues of US$41m were what the analysts expected, Civista Bancshares surprised by delivering a (statutory) profit of US$0.66 per share, an impressive 28% above what was forecast. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

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Taking into account the latest results, the consensus forecast from Civista Bancshares' six analysts is for revenues of US$171.4m in 2025. This reflects a meaningful 12% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to leap 26% to US$2.84. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$169.0m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.36 in 2025. Although the revenue estimates have not really changed, we can see there's been a sizeable expansion in earnings per share expectations, suggesting that the analysts have become more bullish after the latest result.

View our latest analysis for Civista Bancshares

There's been no major changes to the consensus price target of US$25.17, suggesting that the improved earnings per share outlook is not enough to have a long-term positive impact on the stock's valuation. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. The most optimistic Civista Bancshares analyst has a price target of US$28.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$23.00. Even so, with a relatively close grouping of estimates, it looks like the analysts are quite confident in their valuations, suggesting Civista Bancshares is an easy business to forecast or the the analysts are all using similar assumptions.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. It's clear from the latest estimates that Civista Bancshares' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 16% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2025 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 8.7% p.a. over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to grow their revenue 7.1% annually. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that Civista Bancshares is expected to grow much faster than its industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing here is that the analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, suggesting that there has been a clear increase in optimism towards Civista Bancshares following these results. Happily, there were no major changes to revenue forecasts, with the business still expected to grow faster than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have estimates - from multiple Civista Bancshares analysts - going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

It might also be worth considering whether Civista Bancshares' debt load is appropriate, using our debt analysis tools on the Simply Wall St platform, here.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.