Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) Shares Up 4.3%

Shares of Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYBT) shot up 4.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $44.81 and last traded at $44.81. 41,288 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 77,014 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SYBT. Piper Sandler began coverage on Stock Yards Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Hovde Group initiated coverage on Stock Yards Bancorp in a research note on Monday, March 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.00.

Stock Yards Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.95.

Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.04). Stock Yards Bancorp had a net margin of 24.54% and a return on equity of 13.20%. The business had revenue of $119.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $82.60 million. Research analysts expect that Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stock Yards Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Stock Yards Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stock Yards Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in Stock Yards Bancorp by 34.3% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 9,910 shares of the bank’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530 shares during the last quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 11.6% in the first quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 30,277 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,481,000 after acquiring an additional 3,140 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 34.1% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,172 shares of the bank’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,603 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,786,710 shares of the bank’s stock worth $91,998,000 after acquiring an additional 33,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,364 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,152,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. 56.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.