Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC) Receives Average Rating of "Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Six research firms rate Nicolet Bankshares an average "Buy" (five buys, one strong buy) with a 12-month average price target of $179.50.
• Insider selling: Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 6,396 shares at an average $155.47 (~$994k), and insiders sold 13,036 shares (~$1.99M) in the last quarter while still owning 16.40% of the company.
• Recent results and valuation: Q1 reported EPS of $2.73 beat estimates ($2.55) and revenue was $103.99M versus $79.67M expected; shares trade around $156.59 with a market cap of $3.35B, P/E of 15.98, and a quarterly dividend of $0.32 (yield ~0.8%).

Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Buy" from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $179.50.

NIC has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nicolet Bankshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Nicolet Bankshares from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Hovde Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Nicolet Bankshares in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Nicolet Bankshares in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nicolet Bankshares news, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 6,396 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.47, for a total transaction of $994,386.12. Following the transaction, the director owned 34,054 shares in the company, valued at $5,294,375.38. The trade was a 15.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 13,036 shares of company stock worth $1,992,022 in the last quarter. Insiders own 16.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nicolet Bankshares

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Nicolet Bankshares by 3,940.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 202 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 192.9% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 451 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 45.1% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 589 shares of the company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. 43.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nicolet Bankshares Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NIC opened at $156.59 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $151.08 and its 200 day moving average is $136.22. Nicolet Bankshares has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $163.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.18. Nicolet Bankshares had a net margin of 26.98% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The company had revenue of $103.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.67 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Nicolet Bankshares will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nicolet Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Nicolet Bankshares's payout ratio is 13.06%.

About Nicolet Bankshares

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Through its subsidiary, Nicolet National Bank, it provides a range of commercial and consumer banking services to businesses, individuals and nonprofit organizations across northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The company's branch network, digital banking platform and commercial lending centers support its focus on community banking and regional growth.

The company offers deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside consumer and commercial lending solutions.

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