Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) Hits New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYBT - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $83.67 and last traded at $82.18, with a volume of 22686 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $83.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYBT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Stock Yards Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $81.00 price target on shares of Stock Yards Bancorp and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Stock Yards Bancorp has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.25.

Stock Yards Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $76.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 0.72.

Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.13. Stock Yards Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 23.34%. The firm had revenue of $93.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

Stock Yards Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Stock Yards Bancorp's payout ratio is 29.95%.

Insider Activity at Stock Yards Bancorp

In other Stock Yards Bancorp news, EVP William Dishman sold 2,802 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total value of $218,836.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,467,491.40. This trade represents a 8.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David P. Heintzman sold 3,419 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.71, for a total value of $255,433.49. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 83,651 shares in the company, valued at $6,249,566.21. This represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,902 shares of company stock valued at $1,296,210 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stock Yards Bancorp

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in Stock Yards Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $114,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Stock Yards Bancorp by 7,142.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,306 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,540,000 after purchasing an additional 21,998 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Stock Yards Bancorp by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 274,295 shares of the bank's stock worth $19,642,000 after buying an additional 31,529 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $1,193,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Stock Yards Bancorp by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 23,872 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,709,000 after acquiring an additional 8,048 shares during the last quarter. 56.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Stock Yards Bancorp

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.