Short Interest in Republic Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:RBCAA) Increases By 34.4%

Republic Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:RBCAA - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 69,200 shares, a growth of 34.4% from the March 15th total of 51,500 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 27,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Republic Bancorp

In other Republic Bancorp news, EVP John T. Rippy sold 3,082 shares of Republic Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.99, for a total transaction of $203,381.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,524,698.95. The trade was a 11.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David P. Feaster sold 1,406 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.42, for a total value of $93,386.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $285,805.26. The trade was a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 56.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Republic Bancorp by 659.0% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 759 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Republic Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Republic Bancorp by 206.7% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,101 shares of the bank's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new position in Republic Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $128,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. bought a new position in Republic Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. 24.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Hovde Group lowered their target price on Republic Bancorp from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Republic Bancorp Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Republic Bancorp stock traded up $1.23 during trading on Thursday, hitting $68.05. 10,371 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,848. Republic Bancorp has a twelve month low of $48.10 and a twelve month high of $80.68. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.56. Republic Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 20.05%.

About Republic Bancorp

Republic Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for Republic Bank & Trust Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates in six segments: Traditional Banking, Warehouse, Mortgage Banking, Tax Refund Solutions, Republic Payment Solutions, and Republic Credit Solutions.