Hovde Group Issues Positive Forecast for S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) Stock Price

S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) had its price target upped by Hovde Group from $44.00 to $47.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on STBA. Janney Montgomery Scott raised S&T Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of S&T Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on S&T Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of S&T Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.75.

S&T Bancorp Stock Performance

S&T Bancorp stock opened at $43.01 on Monday. S&T Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $30.84 and a fifty-two week high of $44.87. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 0.93.

S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89. S&T Bancorp had a net margin of 23.61% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The firm had revenue of $105.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.46 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that S&T Bancorp will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

S&T Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 12th. S&T Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 41.14%.

S&T Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, January 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On S&T Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STBA. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of S&T Bancorp by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 172,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,492,000 after purchasing an additional 42,015 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in S&T Bancorp in the second quarter worth $3,193,000. Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in S&T Bancorp by 82.0% during the third quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 88,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,334,000 after buying an additional 39,977 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in S&T Bancorp by 12.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, S&T Bank PA raised its holdings in S&T Bancorp by 2.3% during the second quarter. S&T Bank PA now owns 324,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,276,000 after buying an additional 7,230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.22% of the company’s stock.

About S&T Bancorp

S&T Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania, serving as the parent of S&T Bank. Established as a banking organization in 1902 with the holding company formation following in the early 1980s, S&T Bancorp has built its reputation on delivering community-oriented financial services. The company operates under the NASDAQ ticker STBA, maintaining a focus on personalized banking solutions and local decision-making.

The company’s main business activities encompass a full suite of retail and commercial banking products.