Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYBT) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $67.50 and last traded at $66.44, with a volume of 27575 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $65.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SYBT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $64.00 target price (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Stock Yards Bancorp from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp from $65.50 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Hovde Group cut shares of Stock Yards Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stock Yards Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.75.

Stock Yards Bancorp Stock Up 0.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $61.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.25.

Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $130.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.57 million. Stock Yards Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 21.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Stock Yards Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Stock Yards Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Stock Yards Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard A. Lechleiter purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $56.40 per share, for a total transaction of $36,660.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,680 shares in the company, valued at $320,352. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Richard A. Lechleiter purchased 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $56.40 per share, with a total value of $36,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $320,352. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David P. Heintzman sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $170,289.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 29,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders sold 12,700 shares of company stock valued at $830,253. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stock Yards Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 63,095 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,911,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Sippican Capital Advisors increased its holdings in Stock Yards Bancorp by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 17,354 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 3,121 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in Stock Yards Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $219,000. Creative Planning raised its position in Stock Yards Bancorp by 7.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 46,346 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,873,000 after purchasing an additional 3,289 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $206,000. 56.46% of the stock is currently 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.