Horizon Bancorp (IN) (NASDAQ:HBNC) Short Interest Down 14.1% in February

Horizon Bancorp (IN) (NASDAQ:HBNC) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 1,201,131 shares, a decrease of 14.1% from the February 12th total of 1,398,860 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 426,576 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 426,576 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Horizon Bancorp (IN)

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBNC. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Horizon Bancorp (IN) by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 17,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 4,354 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its position in shares of Horizon Bancorp (IN) by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 32,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 12,503 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Horizon Bancorp (IN) in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $254,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Horizon Bancorp (IN) during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Finally, VARCOV Co. bought a new position in Horizon Bancorp (IN) in the 4th quarter worth approximately $432,000. Institutional investors own 64.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HBNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Horizon Bancorp (IN) in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Horizon Bancorp (IN) from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Horizon Bancorp (IN) from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.33.

Horizon Bancorp (IN) Stock Performance

Shares of HBNC traded down $0.05 on Tuesday, reaching $15.89. 311,476 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 376,291. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.85. The stock has a market cap of $813.89 million, a PE ratio of -5.04 and a beta of 0.82. Horizon Bancorp has a 52-week low of $12.70 and a 52-week high of $19.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Horizon Bancorp (IN) (NASDAQ:HBNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.03. Horizon Bancorp (IN) had a positive return on equity of 11.56% and a negative net margin of 37.12%.The firm had revenue of $64.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.35 million. On average, analysts forecast that Horizon Bancorp will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Horizon Bancorp (IN)

Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ: HBNC) is a financial holding company headquartered in Columbus, Indiana, offering community banking and wealth management services through its subsidiary, Horizon Bank. As a locally focused institution, it provides a full range of retail and commercial banking products, including checking and savings accounts, consumer and mortgage lending, commercial real estate financing, and treasury management solutions.

In addition to traditional deposit and loan products, Horizon Bancorp’s services encompass investment advisory and trust administration, retirement planning, and insurance products.