Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Shares of Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 68,480 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 43% from the previous session’s volume of 48,029 shares.The stock last traded at $113.42 and had previously closed at $110.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NIC. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Nicolet Bankshares from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Maxim Group increased their target price on Nicolet Bankshares from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Nicolet Bankshares Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.40.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.23. Nicolet Bankshares had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 23.83%. Sell-side analysts predict that Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nicolet Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Nicolet Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 13.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 3,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.08, for a total transaction of $469,368.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 30,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,579,831.36. This represents a 11.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Merkatoris sold 1,000 shares of Nicolet Bankshares stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.27, for a total transaction of $111,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 82,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,396.86. The trade was a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,527 shares of company stock worth $996,674. 16.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NIC. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Nicolet Bankshares by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 23,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 8,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Nicolet Bankshares by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Advisory Research Inc. boosted its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Research Inc. now owns 44,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,692,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $610,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 43.06% of the company’s stock.

About Nicolet Bankshares

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.