Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) Short Interest Update

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Nicolet Bankshares from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment 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 company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.00.

Insider Activity at Nicolet Bankshares

In other Nicolet Bankshares news, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 2,908 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,696,824.30. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brad Vincent Hutjens sold 1,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.85, for a total value of $110,975.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,743,420.90. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,156 shares of company stock worth $7,324,308 in the last 90 days. 16.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nicolet Bankshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NIC. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 303,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,019,000 after buying an additional 4,911 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 170.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 23,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,291,000 after purchasing an additional 15,121 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Nicolet Bankshares by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 381,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,507,000 after purchasing an additional 13,772 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $412,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Nicolet Bankshares by 31.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the period. 43.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nicolet Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of Nicolet Bankshares stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $111.84. 33,068 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 70,300. Nicolet Bankshares has a 1 year low of $72.70 and a 1 year high of $116.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 0.75. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $99.88 and a 200-day moving average of $91.35.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $91.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.50 million. Nicolet Bankshares had a net margin of 23.35% and a return on equity of 10.56%. As a group, analysts expect that Nicolet Bankshares will post 7.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nicolet Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Nicolet Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 14.25%.

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.