Rafferty Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. $SYBT

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC has reduced its holding in Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. by 23.4%, now owning 16,887 shares valued at approximately $1.17 million.
• Stock Yards Bancorp recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.32, marking a positive change from the previous $0.31, representing a yield of 1.6%.
• The company reported earnings of $1.15 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.05, with revenues of $97.91 million.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYBT - Free Report) by 23.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,887 shares of the bank's stock after selling 5,171 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Stock Yards Bancorp worth $1,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,537 shares of the bank's stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $114,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the bank's stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $223,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 132.8% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 4,070 shares of the bank's stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 2,322 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SYBT shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Stock Yards Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Stock Yards Bancorp from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Stock Yards Bancorp from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James A. Hillebrand sold 2,162 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.32, for a total value of $180,137.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 107,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,939,569.44. This represents a 1.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Croce sold 4,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total value of $315,946.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,895,676. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,064 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,920. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Stock Yards Bancorp Stock Down 1.7%

NASDAQ:SYBT traded down $1.34 on Friday, hitting $79.36. The stock had a trading volume of 70,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 89,450. The business's fifty day moving average is $78.35 and its 200 day moving average is $74.14. The company has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.35 and a 52 week high of $83.83.

Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $97.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.32 million. Stock Yards Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 23.86%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stock Yards Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is a boost from Stock Yards Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Stock Yards Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.51%.

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.