Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYBT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $65.00 and last traded at $65.00, with a volume of 17814 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $64.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on SYBT. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $64.00 target price (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on Stock Yards Bancorp from $53.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $65.50 price objective on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Stock Yards Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.88.

Stock Yards Bancorp Trading Up 3.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average is $59.29 and its 200-day moving average is $52.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $123.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $83.90 million. Stock Yards Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 21.99%. On average, analysts predict that Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stock Yards Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. This is a positive change from Stock Yards Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Stock Yards Bancorp’s payout ratio is 34.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Stock Yards Bancorp news, Director David P. Heintzman sold 6,000 shares of Stock Yards Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.27, for a total value of $373,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 107,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,667,248.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Stock Yards Bancorp news, Director David P. Heintzman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.27, for a total value of $373,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 107,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,667,248.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David P. Heintzman sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $170,289.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 29,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,878,603.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,457 shares of company stock valued at $1,335,466. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stock Yards Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYBT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,786,710 shares of the bank’s stock worth $91,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,906 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $863,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 2.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 936,919 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,536,000 after acquiring an additional 24,856 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 163.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 142,455 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,076,000 after acquiring an additional 88,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 4.5% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,168,256 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,139,000 after acquiring an additional 50,730 shares during the last quarter. 56.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stock Yards Bancorp Company Profile

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.