Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Republic Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:RBCAA) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $78.44 and last traded at $78.4250, with a volume of 26204 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $77.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Republic Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Republic Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Republic Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Republic Bancorp Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $72.75 and a 200-day moving average of $71.05. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.63. Republic Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.32% and a net margin of 25.22%.The business had revenue of $114.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.60 million.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Republic Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RBCAA. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Republic Bancorp by 199.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,649 shares of the bank’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 7,764 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Republic Bancorp by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,945 shares of the bank’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Republic Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $716,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Republic Bancorp by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,120 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Republic Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $578,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.37% of the company’s stock.

About Republic Bancorp

Republic Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that operates through its principal subsidiary, Republic Bank & Trust Company. The company provides a full suite of commercial and retail banking services tailored to individuals, small businesses and middle‐market clients. Core offerings include deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, treasury and cash-management services, mortgage financing, SBA lending and wealth management solutions. Republic Bancorp also supports specialized financing needs through equipment leasing and small business advisory services.

Republic Bancorp’s branch network spans key markets in the U.S.