Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 74,100 shares, a decline of 16.6% from the November 15th total of 88,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 48,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Nicolet Bankshares Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Nicolet Bankshares stock opened at $112.15 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 0.76. Nicolet Bankshares has a 1 year low of $73.00 and a 1 year high of $116.17. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.13. Nicolet Bankshares had a net margin of 23.35% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $91.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.50 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nicolet Bankshares will post 7.61 EPS for the current year.

Nicolet Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Nicolet Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nicolet Bankshares

In other Nicolet Bankshares news, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 7,609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $859,817.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,831 shares in the company, valued at $3,709,903. This trade represents a 18.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Brad Vincent Hutjens sold 5,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total value of $663,080.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,361,172.94. This trade represents a 16.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 88,507 shares of company stock worth $9,626,332 over the last ninety days. 16.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nicolet Bankshares

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 589,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,399,000 after purchasing an additional 2,654 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 3.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 587,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,783,000 after buying an additional 16,952 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Nicolet Bankshares by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 381,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,507,000 after buying an additional 13,772 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 303,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,019,000 after buying an additional 4,911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,132,000 after acquiring an additional 3,650 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.06% of the company’s stock.

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.