German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) Short Interest Down 5.7% in December

German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,650,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the December 15th total of 1,750,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 92,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 17.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. German American Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in German American Bancorp by 160.1% in the third quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 514,018 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,918,000 after buying an additional 316,400 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of German American Bancorp by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,708,130 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,557,000 after acquiring an additional 196,003 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of German American Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,887,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in German American Bancorp by 577.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 69,271 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,684,000 after purchasing an additional 59,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in German American Bancorp by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 772,675 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,941,000 after purchasing an additional 50,206 shares during the last quarter. 46.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

German American Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:GABC opened at $39.75 on Friday. German American Bancorp has a one year low of $30.66 and a one year high of $47.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.32.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. German American Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 23.75%. The business had revenue of $62.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.80 million. Equities research analysts expect that German American Bancorp will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

German American Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, November 10th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. German American Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on GABC. Hovde Group upgraded shares of German American Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on German American Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on German American Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, German American Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.40.

German American Bancorp Company Profile

German American Bancorp, Inc operates as a financial holding company for German American Bank that provides retail and commercial banking services. The company operates through three segments: Core Banking, Wealth Management Services, and Insurance Operations. The Core Banking segment accepts deposits from the general public; and originates consumer, commercial and agricultural, commercial and agricultural real estate, and residential mortgage loans, as well as sells residential mortgage loans in the secondary market.