Republic Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:RBCAA) Short Interest Up 26.2% in March

Republic Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:RBCAA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 127,034 shares, a growth of 26.2% from the February 26th total of 100,659 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 57,917 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RBCAA. AQR Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $743,000 after acquiring an additional 7,764 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Republic Bancorp by 5.0% in the first 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 period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Republic Bancorp in the first quarter worth $716,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Republic Bancorp by 9.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 234,101 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,118,000 after purchasing an additional 19,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Republic Bancorp by 23.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 9,533 shares of the bank’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on RBCAA shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Republic Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Republic Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.00.

Republic Bancorp Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ RBCAA traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $70.55. 121,505 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 52,043. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Republic Bancorp has a 12 month low of $56.79 and a 12 month high of $78.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.33.

Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.13). Republic Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 25.19%.The company had revenue of $94.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.50 million.

Republic Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.495 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. This is an increase from Republic Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Republic Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

Republic Bancorp Company Profile

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.