Royce & Associates LP Buys 184,065 Shares of German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC)

Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) by 138.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 317,221 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 184,065 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in German American Bancorp were worth $12,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GABC. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in German American Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $597,000. German American Bancorp Inc. grew its position in German American Bancorp by 160.1% during the third quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 514,018 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,918,000 after buying an additional 316,400 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in German American Bancorp by 3.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 954,536 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,988,000 after buying an additional 32,816 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in German American Bancorp by 1.1% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,922 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,198,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in German American Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $99,000. 46.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on GABC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on German American Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on German American Bancorp from $49.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.40.

German American Bancorp Price Performance

GABC opened at $38.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.81. German American Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.06 and a 12-month high of $47.08. 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 market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.60.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. German American Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.04% and a net margin of 23.69%. Equities analysts predict that German American Bancorp, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

German American Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from German American Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. German American Bancorp’s payout ratio is 41.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Diane B. Medley bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.21 per share, with a total value of $39,210.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $210,557.70. The trade was a 22.88 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 1,064 shares of company stock valued at $41,764. Insiders own 6.16% of the company’s stock.

German American Bancorp 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.