German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.29 Per Share

German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of 0.29 per share by the bank on Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from German American Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27.

German American Bancorp has raised its dividend by an average of 8.7% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 12 years. German American Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 30.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect German American Bancorp to earn $2.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.4%.

German American Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of GABC stock traded up $1.76 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.70. The company had a trading volume of 114,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 89,765. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05 and a beta of 0.65. German American Bancorp has a 52 week low of $30.66 and a 52 week high of $47.08.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. German American Bancorp had a net margin of 23.75% and a return on equity of 11.94%. As a group, analysts predict that German American Bancorp will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Hovde Group raised German American Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on German American Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on shares of German American Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.40.

About German American Bancorp

German American Bancorp, Inc operates as a financial holding company for German American Bank that provides retail and commercial banking services. The company operates through three segments: Core Banking, Wealth Management Services, and Insurance Operations. The Core Banking segment accepts deposits from the general public; and originates consumer, commercial and agricultural, commercial and agricultural real estate, and residential mortgage loans, as well as sells residential mortgage loans in the secondary market.