German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) Short Interest Down 9.8% in July

German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) saw a large decline in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,190,000 shares, a decline of 9.8% from the July 15th total of 1,320,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 120,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.9 days.

German American Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GABC traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.47. 25,459 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 113,338. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.89. German American Bancorp has a 1-year low of $24.85 and a 1-year high of $42.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 0.62.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.08. German American Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 24.44%. The company had revenue of $64.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.20 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that German American Bancorp will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

German American Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 10th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. German American Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas W. Seger bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $36.80 per share, for a total transaction of $110,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 484,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,823,785.60. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other German American Bancorp news, Director Thomas W. Seger bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $36.80 per share, for a total transaction of $110,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 484,342 shares in the company, valued at $17,823,785.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Diane B. Medley purchased 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $36.37 per share, for a total transaction of $25,822.70. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $158,936.90. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 4,104 shares of company stock worth $151,040 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On German American Bancorp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its position in German American Bancorp by 186.2% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,058 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 1,339 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of German American Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $120,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in German American Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in German American Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Finally, Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in German American Bancorp by 6.5% during the second quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the bank’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GABC. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of German American Bancorp from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of German American Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of German American Bancorp from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of German American Bancorp from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, German American Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.67.

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.