German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.25.

Several brokerages have issued reports on GABC. Hovde Group raised German American Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens began coverage on German American Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock.

German American Bancorp Price Performance

GABC stock opened at $44.83 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 0.63. German American Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $29.61 and a fifty-two week high of $47.08.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $62.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.80 million. German American Bancorp had a net margin of 23.75% and a return on equity of 11.94%. Equities research analysts anticipate that German American Bancorp will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

German American Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Sunday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. German American Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.99%.

Institutional Trading of German American Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GABC. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of German American Bancorp by 1.1% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,922 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in German American Bancorp by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,220 shares of the bank’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of German American Bancorp by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the bank’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. Chatham Capital Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of German American Bancorp by 1.7% in the second quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 50,316 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after acquiring an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of German American Bancorp by 5.6% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,610 shares of the bank’s stock worth $799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares during the period. 46.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.