Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

HBNC has been the subject of several other research reports. Hovde Group started coverage on Horizon Bancorp in a report on Monday, September 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Horizon Bancorp from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Horizon Bancorp from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.00.

Horizon Bancorp Price Performance

HBNC opened at $15.91 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $695.43 million, a PE ratio of 37.00 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50-day moving average is $15.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.75. Horizon Bancorp has a 1 year low of $9.22 and a 1 year high of $16.64.

Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.04. Horizon Bancorp had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 8.17%. The firm had revenue of $102.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Horizon Bancorp will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Horizon Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.16 dividend. 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 4.02%. Horizon Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Horizon Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HBNC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Horizon Bancorp by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,276,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,160,000 after purchasing an additional 135,217 shares during the period. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Horizon Bancorp by 6.8% in the first quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,623,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,825,000 after acquiring an additional 103,084 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Horizon Bancorp by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 557,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,151,000 after purchasing an additional 34,958 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 478,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,915,000 after purchasing an additional 50,666 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Horizon Bancorp by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 341,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,222,000 after purchasing an additional 12,357 shares during the period. 64.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Horizon Bancorp Company Profile

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.