Stock Buyback Program Authorized by Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI)

Key Points

• Glacier Bancorp authorized a $200 million share repurchase program, allowing it to buy back up to 3.2% of outstanding shares through open-market purchases.
• The bank reported quarterly EPS of $0.81, exceeding the $0.79 analyst consensus, while revenue reached $333.42 million. It also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.35 per share, implying a 2.9% annualized yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: four analysts rate the stock a Buy, two say Hold and one says Sell, producing an overall “Hold” rating and an average price target of $57.

Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI - Get Free Report) announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 29th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $200 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Glacier Bancorp Stock Performance

Glacier Bancorp stock traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $48.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,208,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,404. Glacier Bancorp has a 1-year low of $39.90 and a 1-year high of $54.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $45.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.68. The company has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43 and a beta of 0.77.

Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.02. Glacier Bancorp had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $333.42 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Glacier Bancorp will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Glacier Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is an increase from Glacier Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 6th. Glacier Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GBCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Glacier Bancorp from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Glacier Bancorp from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Glacier Bancorp in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $57.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Craig Langel acquired 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $47.04 per share, for a total transaction of $105,840.00. Following the purchase, the chairman directly owned 98,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,642,095.36. The trade was a 2.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Glacier Bancorp

Glacier Bancorp, Inc is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Kalispell, Montana. Through its banking subsidiaries, including Glacier Bank, the company provides financial services to individuals, families, businesses and community organizations across the Mountain West and Inland Northwest.

The company's products and services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer and residential mortgages, commercial and real estate lending, agricultural loans, cash-management services and online and mobile banking.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.