German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) Increases Dividend to $0.29 Per Share

German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of 0.29 per share by the bank on Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from German American Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27.

German American Bancorp has increased its dividend by an average of 8.7% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 12 years. German American Bancorp has a payout ratio of 30.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect German American Bancorp to earn $2.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.4%.

German American Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ GABC traded up $1.76 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $41.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 114,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 89,765. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.56. German American Bancorp has a 1-year low of $30.66 and a 1-year high of $47.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. German American Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 23.75%. On average, equities analysts predict that German American Bancorp will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GABC shares. Hovde Group upgraded shares of German American Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens began coverage on German American Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.