Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Shares of Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBNC) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $17.96 and last traded at $17.87, with a volume of 2020 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $16.42.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HBNC has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Horizon Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Horizon Bancorp from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on Horizon Bancorp in a research report on Monday, September 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Horizon Bancorp from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Horizon Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.00.

Horizon Bancorp Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.06. 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 stock has a market cap of $774.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.70 and a beta of 1.03.

Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.04. Horizon Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.36% and a net margin of 5.89%. The firm had revenue of $102.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.23 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Horizon Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Horizon Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Horizon Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Horizon Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HBNC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Horizon Bancorp by 6.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,276,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,160,000 after acquiring an additional 135,217 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 478,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,915,000 after purchasing an additional 50,666 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 67.6% during the 2nd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 124,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,538,000 after purchasing an additional 50,143 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Horizon Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $446,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Horizon Bancorp by 6.7% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 557,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,151,000 after buying an additional 34,958 shares in 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.