Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYBT) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 1,328,582 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1,181% from the previous session’s volume of 103,675 shares.The stock last traded at $63.49 and had previously closed at $65.67.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SYBT shares. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp from $53.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $65.50 target price on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $64.00 target price (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.88.

Stock Yards Bancorp Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.53 and a beta of 0.82.

Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.10. Stock Yards Bancorp had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 12.18%. The company had revenue of $123.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $83.90 million. On average, analysts expect that Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stock Yards Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. This is an increase from Stock Yards Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Stock Yards Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP William Dishman sold 2,204 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.31, for a total transaction of $137,331.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,146,205.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP William Dishman sold 2,204 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.31, for a total transaction of $137,331.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,146,205.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David P. Heintzman sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total transaction of $170,289.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,878,603.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,457 shares of company stock valued at $1,335,466 in the last 90 days. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Stock Yards Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Stock Yards Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Stock Yards Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $195,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new position in Stock Yards Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in Stock Yards Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $219,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Stock Yards Bancorp by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,879 shares of the bank’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.46% of the company’s stock.

About Stock Yards Bancorp

Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc operates as a holding company for Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company that provides various financial services for individuals, corporations, and others in the United States. It operates in two segments, Commercial Banking, and WM&T. The Commercial Banking segment offers a range of loan and deposit products to individual consumers and businesses in all its markets through retail lending, mortgage banking, deposit services, online banking, mobile banking, private banking, commercial lending, commercial real estate lending, leasing, treasury management services, merchant services, international banking, correspondent banking, and other banking services.