Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $88.00 to $82.50. The stock had previously closed at $77.71, but opened at $75.39. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Nicolet Bankshares shares last traded at $75.71, with a volume of 25,683 shares traded.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on NIC. TheStreet upgraded shares of Nicolet Bankshares from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Nicolet Bankshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Nicolet Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Eric James Witczak sold 2,053 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.45, for a total value of $169,269.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,415,656.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Nicolet Bankshares news, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $163,860.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,513,895.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric James Witczak sold 2,053 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.45, for a total transaction of $169,269.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,427 shares in the company, valued at $3,415,656.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 16.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nicolet Bankshares

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NIC. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nicolet Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $18,931,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Nicolet Bankshares by 54.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 556,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,865,000 after purchasing an additional 195,707 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Nicolet Bankshares by 130.1% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 330,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,446,000 after purchasing an additional 186,872 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Nicolet Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $7,746,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 8.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 475,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,953,000 after buying an additional 38,925 shares in the last quarter. 43.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nicolet Bankshares Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $80.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.68.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.12. Nicolet Bankshares had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The firm had revenue of $89.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.30 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. will post 6.93 EPS for the current year.

Nicolet Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Nicolet Bankshares’s payout ratio is 24.63%.

About Nicolet Bankshares

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Nicolet National Bank that provides banking products and services for businesses and individuals in Wisconsin and Michigan. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market accounts; various certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts.