Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Glacier Bancorp (NASDAQ:GBCI) Stock

Glacier Bancorp (NASDAQ:GBCI) had its price target lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $50.00 to $52.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on GBCI. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Glacier Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Glacier Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens raised shares of Glacier Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Glacier Bancorp in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.83.

Glacier Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of GBCI stock opened at $42.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69 and a beta of 0.77. Glacier Bancorp has a 52 week low of $35.57 and a 52 week high of $60.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.78 and a 200-day moving average of $45.48.

Glacier Bancorp (NASDAQ:GBCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. Glacier Bancorp had a net margin of 14.99% and a return on equity of 5.98%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Glacier Bancorp will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Glacier Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 8th. Glacier Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 70.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Glacier Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in Glacier Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Glacier Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $482,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Glacier Bancorp by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 76,865 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,874 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Glacier Bancorp by 464.3% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 287,773 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,725,000 after purchasing an additional 236,781 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Glacier Bancorp by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 352,477 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,587,000 after purchasing an additional 26,157 shares during the period. 80.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Glacier Bancorp Company Profile

Glacier Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Glacier Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, small to medium-sized businesses, community organizations, and public entities in the United States. The company offers retail banking, business banking, and mortgage origination and loan servicing services.