Cedar Creek Partners, an investment management company, released its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In 2024, a few significant tech stocks and the NASDAQ remained at the top of the stock markets. The NASDAQ saw a gain of 28.6% for the year, while the S&P 500 (SPY) increased by 24.9%. Other monitored indices also delivered double-digit returns, with Cedar Creek achieving a 5.2% rise for the year, after accounting for fees and expenses. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to find out its best picks for 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Cedar Creek Partners emphasized stocks such as Citizens Bancshares Corporation (OTC:CZBS). Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Citizens Bancshares Corporation (OTC:CZBS) is a holding company for Citizens Trust Bank that provides various commercial banking services. The one-month return of Citizens Bancshares Corporation (OTC:CZBS) was 4.39%, and its shares gained 9.77% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On February 25, 2025, Citizens Bancshares Corporation (OTC:CZBS) stock closed at $53.24 per share with a market capitalization of $105.04 million.
Cedar Creek Partners stated the following regarding Citizens Bancshares Corporation (OTC:CZBS) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Citizens Bancshares Corporation (OTC:CZBS) – is an Atlanta, Georgia based bank that received $95.7 million of additional capital via the US Treasury’s Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP) at the end of June 2022. The bid price increased from $37.70 per share at the beginning of the year to $51.15 per share at the end of the year. In addition, they paid a $1.00 per share dividend. Citizens has reduced its share count by 10% over the last two years, from 2.0 million shares to 1.8 million shares. Earnings for the first nine months of 2024 were $4.55 per share versus $4.23 per share in the first nine months of 2023. Results in both years were negatively impacted by $3 million loan loss provisions on the same loan that has now been fully reserved.
Due to the ECIP funds Citizens is one of the most over capitalized banks in the US. Annualized earnings run rate after preferred stock expense is roughly $7.50 per share. The stock is an incredible bargain at seven times earnings for a massively overcapitalized bank that is shareholder friendly. We expect them to either make an acquisition or increase organic growth, all the while continuing to return capital to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases.”
A businessperson in a suit shaking hands to seal a deal, symbolizing the company’s corporate banking services.
Citizens Bancshares Corporation (OTC:CZBS) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. While we acknowledge the potential of Citizens Bancshares Corporation (OTC:CZBS) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.