Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC) Shares Up 5.6% – Should You Buy?

Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBNC)’s stock price rose 5.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $15.99 and last traded at $15.96. Approximately 26,440 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 159,459 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HBNC shares. Hovde Group began coverage on Horizon Bancorp in a report on Monday, September 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Horizon Bancorp from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Horizon Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Horizon Bancorp from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Horizon Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.00.

Horizon Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $15.41 and a 200 day moving average of $13.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $695.71 million, a PE ratio of 27.98 and a beta of 1.04.

Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. Horizon Bancorp had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 8.17%. The company had revenue of $97.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Horizon Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Horizon Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Horizon Bancorp’s payout ratio is 118.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Horizon Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 46.7% during the first quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 4,943 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 88,223.7% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 67,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $861,000 after purchasing an additional 67,050 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 28,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 5,496 shares during the period. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,623,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,825,000 after buying an additional 103,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 557,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,151,000 after buying an additional 34,958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.51% of the company’s stock.

About Horizon Bancorp

Horizon Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Horizon Bank that engages in the provision of commercial and retail banking services. The company offers checking, saving, money market, certificate of deposits, individual retirement accounts, and time deposits, as well as non-interest- and interest-bearing demand deposits.