Principal Financial Group Inc. Invests $597,000 in German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 15,411 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $597,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in German American Bancorp by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,708,130 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,557,000 after purchasing an additional 196,003 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of German American Bancorp by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,129,575 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,930,000 after acquiring an additional 14,478 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in German American Bancorp by 3.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 954,536 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,988,000 after acquiring an additional 32,816 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in German American Bancorp by 6.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 772,675 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,941,000 after buying an additional 50,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in German American Bancorp by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 704,094 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,289,000 after purchasing an additional 11,386 shares in the last quarter. 46.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on GABC shares. Stephens started coverage on shares of German American Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Hovde Group raised German American Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of German American Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.40.

German American Bancorp Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ GABC opened at $39.06 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. German American Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.26 and a 1 year high of $47.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.04.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $62.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.80 million. German American Bancorp had a net margin of 23.75% and a return on equity of 11.94%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that German American Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

German American Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. German American Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.99%.

German American Bancorp Company Profile

German American Bancorp, Inc operates as a financial holding company for German American Bank that provides retail and commercial banking services. The company operates through three segments: Core Banking, Wealth Management Services, and Insurance Operations. The Core Banking segment accepts deposits from the general public; and originates consumer, commercial and agricultural, commercial and agricultural real estate, and residential mortgage loans, as well as sells residential mortgage loans in the secondary market.