Glacier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GBCI) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GBCI) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.60.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GBCI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Glacier Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Glacier Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Glacier Bancorp from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Glacier Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $58.00 in a report on Thursday, December 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Randall M. Chesler acquired 2,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $40.91 per share, with a total value of $99,697.67. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 7,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $303,634.02. This represents a 48.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lee Kenneth Groom acquired 2,425 shares of Glacier Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $41.26 per share, with a total value of $100,055.50. Following the purchase, the insider owned 14,343 shares in the company, valued at $591,792.18. This represents a 20.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased 8,852 shares of company stock worth $364,484 in the last three months. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Glacier Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GBCI. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Glacier Bancorp during the second quarter worth $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Glacier Bancorp by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 714 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Glacier Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Glacier Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in Glacier Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $40,000. 80.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Glacier Bancorp Stock Performance

Glacier Bancorp stock opened at $45.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 27.53 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.23. Glacier Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $36.76 and a fifty-two week high of $52.81.

Glacier Bancorp (NASDAQ:GBCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.05). Glacier Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 14.99%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Glacier Bancorp will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Glacier Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th were given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 9th. Glacier Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

Glacier Bancorp Company Profile

Glacier Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Kalispell, Montana, serving communities across the western United States. Through its primary banking subsidiary, Glacier Bank, the company offers a range of financial products, including commercial and consumer lending, deposit accounts, treasury management, mortgage banking, wealth management and insurance services. With locations in dozens of branches across Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Washington, Colorado and Arizona, it caters to individuals, small businesses and agribusiness clients.

Since its establishment in the mid-20th century as a community-focused savings institution, Glacier Bancorp has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions of regional banks, strengthening its presence in local markets.