Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) Sees Large Volume Increase - Should You Buy?

Shares of Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYBT - Get Free Report) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 1,174,199 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 585% from the previous session's volume of 171,394 shares.The stock last traded at $75.40 and had previously closed at $75.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYBT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Hovde Group downgraded shares of Stock Yards Bancorp from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens lowered Stock Yards Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Stock Yards Bancorp from $65.50 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Stock Yards Bancorp Trading Down 0.9 %

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $73.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.42. The company has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.08. Stock Yards Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.71% and a net margin of 22.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stock Yards Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Stock Yards Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 31.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Philip Poindexter sold 3,419 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.55, for a total value of $258,305.45. Following the sale, the president now owns 51,331 shares in the company, valued at $3,878,057.05. This represents a 6.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David P. Heintzman sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total transaction of $273,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,411 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,672,199.10. This represents a 14.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,614 shares of company stock worth $1,687,926 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Stock Yards Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in Stock Yards Bancorp by 115.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 485 shares of the bank's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in Stock Yards Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Stock Yards Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Stock Yards Bancorp by 126.2% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 846 shares of the bank's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in Stock Yards Bancorp by 151.2% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,271 shares of the bank's stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.46% of the company's stock.

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.