German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.00.

GABC has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of German American Bancorp in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of German American Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of German American Bancorp from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Diane B. Medley bought 882 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $37.95 per share, for a total transaction of $33,471.90. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 6,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $237,263.40. The trade was a 16.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have purchased 3,352 shares of company stock valued at $133,482 in the last three months. 4.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On German American Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of German American Bancorp during the first quarter worth $19,336,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of German American Bancorp by 20.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,106,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,004,000 after buying an additional 357,360 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC acquired a new stake in shares of German American Bancorp during the first quarter worth $6,988,000. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of German American Bancorp during the first quarter worth $6,145,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of German American Bancorp during the first quarter worth $5,987,000. 46.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

German American Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GABC opened at $38.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.86. German American Bancorp has a one year low of $32.75 and a one year high of $47.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $91.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.93 million. German American Bancorp had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 11.59%. As a group, equities analysts predict that German American Bancorp will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

German American Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, August 10th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. German American Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.11%.

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.