Short Interest in German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) Drops By 5.7%

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

German American Bancorp Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of GABC traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $39.75. 69,467 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 99,573. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's 50 day moving average is $42.71 and its 200-day moving average is $40.36. German American Bancorp has a 52 week low of $30.66 and a 52 week 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that German American Bancorp will post 2.76 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Sunday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. German American Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.99%.

Institutional Trading of German American Bancorp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of German American Bancorp by 84.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,747 shares of the bank's stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 5,377 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of German American Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $577,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of German American Bancorp by 154.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 60,850 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,358,000 after purchasing an additional 36,954 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of German American Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of German American Bancorp by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,708,130 shares of the bank's stock worth $67,557,000 after purchasing an additional 196,003 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.90% of the company's stock.

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.