Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Key Points

• Stock Yards Bancorp has been upgraded from a "sell" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• Piper Sandler and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods have both raised their price objectives for Stock Yards Bancorp, now set at $86.00 and $85.00, respectively.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $1.15 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.05, alongside a revenue of $97.91 million, also exceeding forecasts.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Stock Yards Bancorp from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Stock Yards Bancorp from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.75.

Stock Yards Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:SYBT traded up $2.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $76.54. The company had a trading volume of 153,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 86,997. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $77.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.38. Stock Yards Bancorp has a one year low of $57.12 and a one year high of $83.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60 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 (NASDAQ:SYBT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $97.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $95.32 million. Stock Yards Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 23.86%. Analysts forecast that Stock Yards Bancorp will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Stock Yards Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Stock Yards Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Stock Yards Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP William Dishman sold 2,802 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total value of $218,836.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,594 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James A. Hillebrand sold 2,162 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.32, for a total value of $180,137.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 107,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,939,569.44. This represents a 1.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stock Yards Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Stock Yards Bancorp by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,888,056 shares of the bank's stock valued at $130,389,000 after buying an additional 24,564 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Stock Yards Bancorp by 26.4% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,358,138 shares of the bank's stock valued at $93,793,000 after buying an additional 283,532 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Stock Yards Bancorp by 4.9% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,278,442 shares of the bank's stock valued at $88,289,000 after buying an additional 60,183 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Stock Yards Bancorp by 0.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 279,671 shares of the bank's stock valued at $19,314,000 after buying an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Finally, Curi Capital LLC lifted its stake in Stock Yards Bancorp by 2.4% in the second quarter. Curi Capital LLC now owns 262,990 shares of the bank's stock valued at $20,823,000 after buying an additional 6,275 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.46% of the company's stock.

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.