Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) Cut to Market Perform at Hovde Group

Hovde Group downgraded shares of Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $68.00 price objective on the bank's stock, up from their prior price objective of $67.00.

A number of other analysts have also commented on SYBT. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $65.50 target price on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $64.00 target price (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on Stock Yards Bancorp from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $67.75.

Stock Yards Bancorp Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:SYBT traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $66.51. 142,247 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 104,396. The company's 50 day moving average is $60.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 0.82. Stock Yards Bancorp has a twelve month low of $36.93 and a twelve month high of $67.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.10. Stock Yards Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $123.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $83.90 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stock Yards Bancorp will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stock Yards Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from Stock Yards Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Stock Yards Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David P. Heintzman sold 2,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total transaction of $170,289.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,786 shares in the company, valued at $1,878,603.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Stock Yards Bancorp news, Director Richard A. Lechleiter acquired 650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $56.40 per share, with a total value of $36,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,680 shares in the company, valued at $320,352. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David P. Heintzman sold 2,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total transaction of $170,289.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,878,603.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,457 shares of company stock valued at $1,335,466. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stock Yards Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Stock Yards Bancorp by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,786,710 shares of the bank's stock worth $91,998,000 after acquiring an additional 33,906 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $863,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 936,919 shares of the bank's stock worth $46,536,000 after purchasing an additional 24,856 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 163.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 142,455 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,076,000 after buying an additional 88,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 4.5% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,168,256 shares of the bank's stock valued at $57,139,000 after buying an additional 50,730 shares in the last quarter. 56.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Stock Yards Bancorp

Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc operates as a holding company for Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company that provides various financial services for individuals, corporations, and others in the United States. It operates in two segments, Commercial Banking, and WM&T. The Commercial Banking segment offers a range of loan and deposit products to individual consumers and businesses in all its markets through retail lending, mortgage banking, deposit services, online banking, mobile banking, private banking, commercial lending, commercial real estate lending, leasing, treasury management services, merchant services, international banking, correspondent banking, and other banking services.