Short Interest in Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) Rises By 23.8%

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 69,600 shares, a growth of 23.8% from the December 15th total of 56,200 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 51,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Nicolet Bankshares Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NIC stock traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $106.30. 56,236 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,684. Nicolet Bankshares has a 1 year low of $73.00 and a 1 year high of $116.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $108.67 and a 200 day moving average of $100.09. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.52 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $91.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.50 million. Nicolet Bankshares had a net margin of 23.35% and a return on equity of 10.56%. Analysts expect that Nicolet Bankshares will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Nicolet Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Nicolet Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 14.25%.

Insider Transactions at Nicolet Bankshares

In other Nicolet Bankshares news, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.01, for a total transaction of $252,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,365,148.15. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Brad Vincent Hutjens sold 1,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.85, for a total value of $110,975.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,674 shares in the company, valued at $2,743,420.90. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,599 shares of company stock valued at $9,326,168 in the last quarter. 16.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nicolet Bankshares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NIC. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $155,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Nicolet Bankshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $264,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 2,617 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased 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 worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $412,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Maxim Group upped their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Nicolet Bankshares from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nicolet Bankshares has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.00.

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.