8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to section 13 or 15(d) of

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) November 1, 2019

Civista Bancshares, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Ohio	001-36192	34-1558688
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)	(Commission File Number)	( IRS Employer Identification No.)

100 East Water Street, P.O. Box 5016, Sandusky, Ohio 44870

(Address of principle executive offices)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (419) 625-4121

N/A

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

☐ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☐ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common	CIVB	NASDAQ Capital Market
Preferred	CIVBP	NASDAQ Capital Market

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter)

Emerging growth company  ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

Item 8.01 Other Events

Civista Bancshares, Inc. is sending a letter to its shareholders along with the payment of a fourth quarter dividend of $0.11 per share. The letter discusses recent news and initiatives that are on the horizon for the company. A copy of the letter as mailed is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1.

Civista Bancshares, Inc. is a $2.3 billion financial holding company headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio and may be accessed at www.civb.com. The Company’s common shares are traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “CIVB”. The Company’s depositary shares, each representing a 1/40^th ownership interest in a Series B Preferred Share, are traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “CIVBP”.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits

(a) Exhibit 99.1 Letter to Shareholders dated November 1, 2019

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

	Civista Bancshares, Inc.
	(Registrant)
Date: November 1, 2019	/s/ Todd A. Michel
	Todd A. Michel,
	Senior Vice President and Controller

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

November 1, 2019

Dear Shareholder:

We are pleased to enclose (unless you have direct deposit) your November 1, 2019, dividend of $0.11 per common share. We continue to comment about the exercise your management and board go through to balance retention of capital for growth and return to you, our shareholder, in dividends, but also return in increasing value. Our stock price as of September 30, 2019 was $21.73 compared to $17.42 on December 31, 2018. This is a 24.74% increase in value year to date.

Our third quarter 2019 earnings will be released on October 25, 2019 and earnings will be posted to our corporate website at CIVB.com.

It has now been over a year since our acquisition of United Community Bancorp. The acquisition has far exceeded our expectations as we have enjoyed solid loan growth and we have expanded our deposit and investment services in southeastern Indiana. The transaction gave us higher lending limits which we were able to use to expand lending relationships with some of our most creditworthy borrowers. The acquisition also brought additional revenue which we were able to use to increase treasury management and private banking services across the entire footprint. We will continue to explore other acquisition opportunities as they become available.

We continue to grow organically. Our newest office in the Cleveland suburb of Beachwood, Ohio is set to open the week of October 28, 2019. We have had tremendous success operating a loan production office nearby in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. The opening of this branch will now allow us to offer deposit services to those people living on the east side of Cleveland. The loan production team in Mayfield Heights will relocate to the Beachwood office.

We value relationships and we seek to make a difference in the communities that we serve, for the benefit of all our customers, employees and shareholders. If you have questions, a call is always welcomed.

Sincerely,
James O. Miller	Dennis G. Shaffer
Chairman of the Board	CEO and President

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Comments made in this letter include “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results or future events could differ, possibly materially, from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this letter, and Civista Bancshares, Inc. assumes no duty to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this letter, except to the extent required by law.