Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBNC) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $19.06 and last traded at $18.99, with a volume of 32762 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HBNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Horizon Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Hovde Group started coverage on shares of Horizon Bancorp in a research report on Monday, September 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Horizon Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.00.

Horizon Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $812.75 million, a PE ratio of 39.55 and a beta of 1.03.

Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $102.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.23 million. Horizon Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 5.89%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Horizon Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Horizon Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. Horizon Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 136.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Horizon Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 508.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Horizon Bancorp by 1,656.2% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 3,064 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Horizon Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $80,000. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Horizon Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $163,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 10,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.51% of the company’s stock.

About Horizon Bancorp

Horizon Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Horizon Bank that engages in the provision of commercial and retail banking services. The company offers checking, saving, money market, certificate of deposits, individual retirement accounts, and time deposits, as well as non-interest- and interest-bearing demand deposits.