Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBNC) Short Interest Down 8.4% in December

Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBNC) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 587,300 shares, a decrease of 8.4% from the November 30th total of 641,300 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 166,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HBNC. StockNews.com raised Horizon Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Horizon Bancorp from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Horizon Bancorp in a research note on Monday, September 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Horizon Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HBNC. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 508.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,753 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in Horizon Bancorp by 114.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 3,709 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Horizon Bancorp by 44.1% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 8,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,740 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Horizon Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $163,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Horizon Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $133,000. Institutional investors own 64.51% of the company’s stock.

Horizon Bancorp Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:HBNC traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.11. The stock had a trading volume of 150,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 162,336. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $17.35 and a 200 day moving average of $15.56. The company has a market capitalization of $704.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.28 and a beta of 1.05. Horizon Bancorp has a one year low of $11.18 and a one year high of $19.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $102.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.23 million. Horizon Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 5.89%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Horizon Bancorp will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Horizon Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Horizon Bancorp’s payout ratio is 136.17%.

Horizon Bancorp Company Profile

Horizon Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Horizon Bank that engages in the provision of commercial and retail banking services. The company offers checking, saving, money market, certificate of deposits, individual retirement accounts, and time deposits, as well as non-interest- and interest-bearing demand deposits.