Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Maxim Group raised their price target on the stock from $161.00 to $173.00. Maxim Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Nicolet Bankshares traded as high as $145.20 and last traded at $144.84, with a volume of 547837 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $131.43.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $145.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nicolet Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Nicolet Bankshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Nicolet Bankshares from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nicolet Bankshares currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.67.

Insider Activity at Nicolet Bankshares

In other Nicolet Bankshares news, Director Robert J. Weyers acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $115.73 per share, with a total value of $347,190.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 26,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,037,912.50. The trade was a 12.90% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Hubert Phillip Moore, Jr. acquired 240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $115.84 per share, with a total value of $27,801.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,816,580.48. This represents a 0.73% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have acquired a total of 3,370 shares of company stock worth $390,760 in the last quarter. 16.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nicolet Bankshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NIC. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Nicolet Bankshares by 409.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 2,439 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC now owns 13,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,687,000 after acquiring an additional 2,668 shares in the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $846,000. Legacy Private Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 20,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,955 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,213,000 after purchasing an additional 2,709 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.06% of the company’s stock.

Nicolet Bankshares Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $127.50 and a 200-day moving average of $129.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Nicolet Bankshares Dividend Announcement

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

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.