Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) Short Interest Update

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 140,900 shares, a decrease of 22.6% from the October 15th total of 182,100 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 46,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Maxim Group lifted their price objective on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.00.

Nicolet Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NIC traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $111.84. The company had a trading volume of 33,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 70,300. Nicolet Bankshares has a one year low of $72.70 and a one year high of $116.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $99.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.35. The firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 0.75.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $91.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.50 million. Nicolet Bankshares had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 23.35%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nicolet Bankshares will post 7.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nicolet Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Nicolet Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael E. Daniels sold 8,003 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total value of $792,136.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 72,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,166,349.96. This represents a 9.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.01, for a total transaction of $252,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,365,148.15. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,156 shares of company stock valued at $7,324,308. 16.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nicolet Bankshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NIC. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $67,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 97.3% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Nicolet Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $155,000. Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new position in Nicolet Bankshares during the first quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares in the first quarter worth about $203,000. 43.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.