German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) Short Interest Update

German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,650,000 shares, a decrease of 5.7% from the December 15th total of 1,750,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 92,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 17.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of German American Bancorp during the third quarter worth $597,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in German American Bancorp by 577.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 69,271 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,684,000 after buying an additional 59,048 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of German American Bancorp by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 772,675 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,941,000 after buying an additional 50,206 shares during the period. German American Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in shares of German American Bancorp by 160.1% in the 3rd quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 514,018 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,918,000 after acquiring an additional 316,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of German American Bancorp by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,708,130 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,557,000 after acquiring an additional 196,003 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 46.90% of the company’s stock.

German American Bancorp Stock Performance

GABC stock opened at $39.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.32. German American Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $30.66 and a fifty-two week high of $47.08.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $62.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.80 million. German American Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 23.75%. Analysts forecast that German American Bancorp will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

German American Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. German American Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 38.99%.

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.