Piper Sandler Cuts German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) Price Target to $48.00

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) had its target price lowered by Piper Sandler from $49.00 to $48.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group raised German American Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on German American Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.40.

German American Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of GABC stock opened at $41.33 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.63. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 0.65. German American Bancorp has a 12-month low of $30.66 and a 12-month high of $47.08.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. German American Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.04% and a net margin of 23.69%. On average, equities analysts forecast that German American Bancorp will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

German American Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. This is a boost from German American Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. German American Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On German American Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of German American Bancorp in the second quarter worth $207,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in German American Bancorp by 180.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 17,761 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 11,439 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in German American Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $247,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of German American Bancorp by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,610 shares of the bank’s stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of German American Bancorp by 42.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,321 shares of the bank’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 4,840 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.90% of the company’s stock.

About German American Bancorp

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.