Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $116.58 and last traded at $116.22, with a volume of 1800 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $115.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NIC shares. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Nicolet Bankshares from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nicolet Bankshares has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.00.

Nicolet Bankshares Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $108.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 0.77.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.23. Nicolet Bankshares had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 10.95%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nicolet Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Nicolet Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nicolet Bankshares

In other Nicolet Bankshares news, EVP Brad Vincent Hutjens sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.90, for a total value of $499,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,958,146.60. The trade was a 14.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Merkatoris sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.27, for a total transaction of $111,270.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 82,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,396.86. The trade was a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,018 shares of company stock worth $5,425,478 in the last 90 days. 16.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth $128,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $155,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $264,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in Nicolet Bankshares by 858.0% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 2,617 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 31.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. 43.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Nicolet Bankshares

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Nicolet National Bank that provides banking products and services for businesses and individuals in Wisconsin and Michigan. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market accounts; various certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts.