Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) Hits New 1-Year High at $64.56

Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYBT) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $64.56 and last traded at $64.42, with a volume of 1375819 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $62.57.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYBT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $65.50 price target on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp from $53.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.88.

Stock Yards Bancorp Trading Up 3.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.68.

Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.10. Stock Yards Bancorp had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 12.18%. The firm had revenue of $123.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $83.90 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stock Yards Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Stock Yards Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Stock Yards Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard A. Lechleiter acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $56.40 per share, for a total transaction of $36,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $320,352. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO James A. Hillebrand sold 9,053 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $561,195.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,536,845.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard A. Lechleiter bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $56.40 per share, with a total value of $36,660.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $320,352. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,757 shares of company stock worth $1,165,177. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stock Yards Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,374 shares of the bank’s stock worth $714,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,141 shares of the bank’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,879 shares of the bank’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 70.6% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,931 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. 56.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Stock Yards Bancorp

Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc operates as a holding company for Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company that provides various financial services for individuals, corporations, and others in the United States. It operates in two segments, Commercial Banking, and WM&T. The Commercial Banking segment offers a range of loan and deposit products to individual consumers and businesses in all its markets through retail lending, mortgage banking, deposit services, online banking, mobile banking, private banking, commercial lending, commercial real estate lending, leasing, treasury management services, merchant services, international banking, correspondent banking, and other banking services.