Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBNC) Short Interest Up 20.7% in March

Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBNC - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 664,700 shares, an increase of 20.7% from the February 28th total of 550,500 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 169,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HBNC. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 362.6% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,573 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 508.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,753 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Horizon Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Horizon Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Horizon Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors own 64.51% of the company's stock.

Horizon Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HBNC remained flat at $13.29 during midday trading on Monday. 269,471 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 164,610. The stock has a market cap of $584.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.87. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $16.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.40. Horizon Bancorp has a one year low of $11.18 and a one year high of $19.18.

Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.03). Horizon Bancorp had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 8.48%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Horizon Bancorp will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Horizon Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Horizon Bancorp's payout ratio is 80.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Horizon Bancorp from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th.

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.