Horizon Bancorp (IN) (NASDAQ:HBNC) Hits New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

Horizon Bancorp (IN) (NASDAQ:HBNC) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $18.60 and last traded at $18.46, with a volume of 447982 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.47.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Horizon Bancorp (IN)’s dividend payout ratio is -16.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HBNC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Horizon Bancorp (IN) from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Zacks Research lowered Horizon Bancorp (IN) from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Horizon Bancorp (IN) in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Horizon Bancorp (IN) in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.67.

Horizon Bancorp (IN) Stock Down 1.3%

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.02. The firm has a market cap of $928.62 million, a P/E ratio of -4.61 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Horizon Bancorp (IN) (NASDAQ:HBNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.16). Horizon Bancorp (IN) had a positive return on equity of 10.01% and a negative net margin of 51.01%.The company had revenue of $59.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.34 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Horizon Bancorp will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Horizon Bancorp (IN)

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HBNC. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Horizon Bancorp (IN) by 1,240.5% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 14,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 13,224 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in Horizon Bancorp (IN) by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 30,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 5,498 shares in the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Horizon Bancorp (IN) in the third quarter worth about $208,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Horizon Bancorp (IN) by 63.4% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 17,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 6,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its stake in shares of Horizon Bancorp (IN) by 83.6% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 30,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 14,003 shares in the last quarter. 64.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Horizon Bancorp (IN) Company Profile

Horizon Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Horizon Bank that engages in the provision of commercial and retail banking services. The company offers checking, saving, money market, certificate of deposits, individual retirement accounts, and time deposits, as well as non-interest- and interest-bearing demand deposits.