German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.40.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group raised German American Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on German American Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on German American Bancorp from $49.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On German American Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GABC. German American Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in German American Bancorp by 160.1% during the third quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 514,018 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,918,000 after buying an additional 316,400 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of German American Bancorp by 13.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in shares of German American Bancorp by 138.2% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 317,221 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,759,000 after purchasing an additional 184,065 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of German American Bancorp by 437.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 96,438 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,879,000 after purchasing an additional 78,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 59,048 shares in the last quarter. 46.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

German American Bancorp Stock Down 1.4 %

German American Bancorp stock opened at $39.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. German American Bancorp has a one year low of $30.66 and a one year high of $47.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 0.64.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. German American Bancorp had a net margin of 23.69% and a return on equity of 12.04%. As a group, equities analysts expect that German American Bancorp will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

German American Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. This is an increase from German American Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. German American Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 41.13%.

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.