Horizon Bancorp (IN) (NASDAQ:HBNC) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

Horizon Bancorp (IN) (NASDAQ:HBNC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $18.60 and last traded at $18.46, with a volume of 447982 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.47.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. Horizon Bancorp (IN)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -16.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on HBNC shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Horizon Bancorp (IN) in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Horizon Bancorp (IN) in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded Horizon Bancorp (IN) from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on Horizon Bancorp (IN) from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.67.

Horizon Bancorp (IN) Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $16.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.02. The firm has a market cap of $928.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.61 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Horizon Bancorp (IN) (NASDAQ:HBNC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $59.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.34 million. Horizon Bancorp (IN) had a positive return on equity of 10.01% and a negative net margin of 51.01%. Equities research analysts predict that Horizon Bancorp will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Horizon Bancorp (IN) by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,012,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,238,000 after buying an additional 261,587 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Horizon Bancorp (IN) by 3.0% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,568,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,116,000 after acquiring an additional 75,462 shares during the period. PL Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Horizon Bancorp (IN) by 13.4% in the third quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,691,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,076,000 after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Horizon Bancorp (IN) in the third quarter worth about $24,842,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Horizon Bancorp (IN) by 1.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,096,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,868,000 after purchasing an additional 12,465 shares during the period. 64.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Horizon Bancorp (IN) 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.