Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBNC) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBNC - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 587,300 shares, a decline of 8.4% from the November 30th total of 641,300 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 166,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Horizon Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Horizon Bancorp by 508.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,753 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 114.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 3,709 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 44.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 8,956 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,740 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in Horizon Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $133,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Horizon Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $150,000. 64.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HBNC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Horizon Bancorp from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Horizon Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Hovde Group started coverage on Horizon Bancorp in a report on Monday, September 30th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock.

Horizon Bancorp Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ HBNC traded up $0.05 on Wednesday, reaching $16.11. The company had a trading volume of 150,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 162,336. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $704.25 million, a P/E ratio of 34.28 and a beta of 1.05. The company's fifty day moving average is $17.35 and its 200 day moving average is $15.56. Horizon Bancorp has a 52-week low of $11.18 and a 52-week high of $19.18.

Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.04. Horizon Bancorp had a net margin of 5.89% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company had revenue of $102.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Horizon Bancorp will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Horizon Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Horizon Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 136.17%.

Horizon Bancorp Company Profile

Horizon Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Horizon Bank that engages in the provision of commercial and retail banking services. The company offers checking, saving, money market, certificate of deposits, individual retirement accounts, and time deposits, as well as non-interest- and interest-bearing demand deposits.