German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) Short Interest Up 7.6% in October

German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,550,000 shares, a growth of 7.6% from the October 15th total of 1,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 76,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 20.3 days.

German American Bancorp Stock Performance

German American Bancorp stock traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $45.15. The stock had a trading volume of 72,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,441. German American Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $27.23 and a fifty-two week high of $46.75. The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.39 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $62.40 million for 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 anticipate that German American Bancorp will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

German American Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Sunday, November 10th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. German American Bancorp's payout ratio is 38.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On German American Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of German American Bancorp by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,069 shares of the bank's stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 6,551 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of German American Bancorp by 186.2% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,058 shares of the bank's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of German American Bancorp by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 30,019 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,040,000 after buying an additional 2,326 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of German American Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $6,828,000. Finally, Chatham Capital Group Inc. raised its stake in German American Bancorp by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 50,316 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,779,000 after buying an additional 840 shares during the period. 46.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of German American Bancorp from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James upped their price target on German American Bancorp from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stephens initiated coverage on German American Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Hovde Group raised German American Bancorp from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $41.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of German American Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.25.

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.