Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $120.30 and last traded at $120.28, with a volume of 1269 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $119.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NIC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Maxim Group increased their price target on Nicolet Bankshares from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.00.

Nicolet Bankshares Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.23. Nicolet Bankshares had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 10.95%. On average, analysts forecast that Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nicolet Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Nicolet Bankshares’s payout ratio is 13.95%.

Insider Activity at Nicolet Bankshares

In related news, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.65, for a total transaction of $364,950.30. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,452.40. The trade was a 8.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Merkatoris sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.27, for a total value of $111,270.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 82,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,396.86. This represents a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,781 shares of company stock worth $2,832,698. Company insiders own 16.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Nicolet Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $528,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 858.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 2,617 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,132,000 after purchasing an additional 3,650 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 7.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 589,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,399,000 after buying an additional 2,654 shares during the last quarter. 43.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nicolet Bankshares Company Profile

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.