Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) Short Interest Down 16.6% in November

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 74,100 shares, a decline of 16.6% from the November 15th total of 88,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 48,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.6% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on NIC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Nicolet Bankshares from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Brad Vincent Hutjens sold 1,079 shares of Nicolet Bankshares stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.85, for a total value of $110,975.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,743,420.90. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 14,171 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.00, for a total value of $1,459,613.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,315 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,431,445. This represents a 29.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 88,507 shares of company stock worth $9,626,332 in the last three months. 16.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NIC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Nicolet Bankshares by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 587,488 shares of the company's stock worth $48,783,000 after acquiring an additional 16,952 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nicolet Bankshares in the third quarter worth about $528,000. Creative Planning grew its position in Nicolet Bankshares by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 12,484 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,194,000 after buying an additional 777 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 65,982 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,479,000 after buying an additional 4,007 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,167 shares of the company's stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the period. 43.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nicolet Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of Nicolet Bankshares stock traded up $0.09 on Friday, reaching $112.15. 31,196 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 43,452. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 0.76. Nicolet Bankshares has a 1-year low of $73.00 and a 1-year high of $116.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company's 50-day moving average is $106.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.64.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $91.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.50 million. Nicolet Bankshares had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 23.35%. As a group, research analysts expect that Nicolet Bankshares will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nicolet Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Nicolet Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.25%.

Nicolet Bankshares Company Profile

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Nicolet National Bank that provides banking products and services for businesses and individuals in Wisconsin and Michigan. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market accounts; various certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts.