German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) Short Interest Update

German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,750,000 shares, an increase of 5.4% from the November 30th total of 1,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 81,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 21.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On German American Bancorp

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew 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 valued at $67,557,000 after buying an additional 196,003 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in German American Bancorp by 1.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,129,575 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,930,000 after acquiring an additional 14,478 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in German American Bancorp by 3.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 954,536 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,988,000 after acquiring an additional 32,816 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of German American Bancorp by 6.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 772,675 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,941,000 after acquiring an additional 50,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of German American Bancorp by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 704,094 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,289,000 after acquiring an additional 11,386 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.90% of the company’s stock.

German American Bancorp Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GABC opened at $40.22 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.40 and a 200-day moving average of $39.90. German American Bancorp has a one year low of $30.26 and a one year high of $47.08.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $62.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.80 million. German American Bancorp had a net margin of 23.75% and a return on equity of 11.94%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that German American Bancorp will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

German American Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Sunday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. German American Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GABC shares. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of German American Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Hovde Group raised shares of German American Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $41.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of German American Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.