German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,750,000 shares, an increase of 5.4% from the November 30th total of 1,660,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 81,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 21.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GABC shares. Hovde Group upgraded shares of German American Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of German American Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on German American Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.40.

German American Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of GABC stock opened at $38.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.89. German American Bancorp has a one year low of $30.26 and a one year high of $47.08. 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 (NASDAQ:GABC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $62.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.80 million. German American Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 23.75%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that German American Bancorp will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

German American Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, November 10th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. German American Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.99%.

Institutional Trading of German American Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in German American Bancorp by 577.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 69,271 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,684,000 after purchasing an additional 59,048 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted 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 valued at $29,941,000 after acquiring an additional 50,206 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of German American Bancorp during the third quarter worth $597,000. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of German American Bancorp by 303.3% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 29,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 22,035 shares during the period. Finally, German American Bancorp Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 316,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.90% of the company’s stock.

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.