Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $163.6667.

NIC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Nicolet Bankshares from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research raised shares of Nicolet Bankshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Maxim Group raised their price objective on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $161.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nicolet Bankshares in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $145.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Nicolet Bankshares Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of NYSE:NIC opened at $141.30 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $127.50 and a 200-day moving average of $129.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.78. Nicolet Bankshares has a twelve month low of $97.90 and a twelve month high of $148.36.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $80.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.67 million. Nicolet Bankshares had a net margin of 26.98% and a return on equity of 12.65%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nicolet Bankshares will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nicolet Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Nicolet Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Hubert Phillip Moore, Jr. bought 240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $115.84 per share, with a total value of $27,801.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,816,580.48. This trade represents a 0.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert J. Weyers purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $115.73 per share, with a total value of $347,190.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,037,912.50. This trade represents a 12.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 3,370 shares of company stock worth $390,760 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 14.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nicolet Bankshares

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 540,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,695,000 after acquiring an additional 21,473 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 40.6% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 199,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,789,000 after purchasing an additional 57,536 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 485.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 184,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,755,000 after purchasing an additional 152,817 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Nicolet Bankshares by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 71.6% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 49,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.06% of the company’s stock.

About Nicolet Bankshares

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Through its subsidiary, Nicolet National Bank, it provides a range of commercial and consumer banking services to businesses, individuals and nonprofit organizations across northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The company’s branch network, digital banking platform and commercial lending centers support its focus on community banking and regional growth.

The company offers deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside consumer and commercial lending solutions.