Short Interest in Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) Drops By 22.6%

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 140,900 shares, a decline of 22.6% from the October 15th total of 182,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 46,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Nicolet Bankshares Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NIC stock traded up $0.05 on Friday, hitting $111.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 33,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 70,300. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 0.75. Nicolet Bankshares has a fifty-two week low of $72.70 and a fifty-two week high of $116.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $99.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $91.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.50 million. Nicolet Bankshares had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 23.35%. Research analysts anticipate that Nicolet Bankshares will post 7.74 EPS for the current year.

Nicolet Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Nicolet Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nicolet Bankshares

In other news, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 2,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.22, for a total value of $300,163.76. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,696,824.30. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael E. Daniels sold 8,003 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total value of $792,136.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 72,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,166,349.96. This represents a 9.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,156 shares of company stock valued at $7,324,308 in the last three months. 16.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nicolet Bankshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Nicolet Bankshares by 89.5% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 3,050 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares in the first quarter worth about $203,000. Blair William & Co. IL acquired a new position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares during the 1st quarter worth about $201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,704,000 after purchasing an additional 8,213 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in Nicolet Bankshares by 97.3% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. 43.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Maxim Group raised their price target on Nicolet Bankshares from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.00.

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.