German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) Sees Large Volume Increase After Analyst Upgrade

German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $46.00 to $47.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the stock. 454,476 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 431% from the previous session’s volume of 85,598 shares.The stock last traded at $41.68 and had previously closed at $41.71.

GABC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on German American Bancorp from $49.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens initiated coverage on German American Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded German American Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $41.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On German American Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GABC. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in German American Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $597,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in German American Bancorp by 577.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 69,271 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,684,000 after buying an additional 59,048 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in German American Bancorp by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 772,675 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,941,000 after buying an additional 50,206 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in German American Bancorp by 154.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 60,850 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,358,000 after buying an additional 36,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, German American Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in German American Bancorp by 160.1% in the 3rd quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 514,018 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,918,000 after buying an additional 316,400 shares during the last quarter. 46.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

German American Bancorp Trading Down 0.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.64 and a 200-day moving average of $40.63.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. German American Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.04% and a net margin of 23.69%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that German American Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

German American Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a boost from German American Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. German American Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 38.30%.

About German American Bancorp

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.