Glacier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GBCI) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Glacier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GBCI) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.60.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of Glacier Bancorp from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 20th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Glacier Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Glacier Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Glacier Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $50.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 18th.

Insider Activity at Glacier Bancorp

In related news, CEO Randall M. Chesler acquired 2,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $40.91 per share, with a total value of $99,697.67. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 7,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $303,634.02. The trade was a 48.89% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ron J. Copher bought 2,400 shares of Glacier Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $41.17 per share, for a total transaction of $98,808.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 96,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,092.42. The trade was a 2.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 8,852 shares of company stock worth $364,484. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Glacier Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GBCI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Glacier Bancorp by 3.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,488,822 shares of the bank’s stock worth $607,831,000 after buying an additional 419,849 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Glacier Bancorp by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,993,108 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $128,957,000 after purchasing an additional 59,421 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Glacier Bancorp by 17.1% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,742,780 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $84,821,000 after purchasing an additional 254,514 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Glacier Bancorp by 1.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,657,366 shares of the bank’s stock worth $80,664,000 after purchasing an additional 16,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Glacier Bancorp by 24.8% in the third quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 1,385,589 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,437,000 after buying an additional 275,209 shares during the period. 80.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Glacier Bancorp Price Performance

Glacier Bancorp stock opened at $46.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87 and a beta of 0.75. Glacier Bancorp has a one year low of $36.76 and a one year high of $52.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.29.

Glacier Bancorp (NASDAQ:GBCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.05). Glacier Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 14.99%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Glacier Bancorp will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Glacier Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 9th. Glacier Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 64.71%.

Glacier Bancorp Company Profile

Glacier Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Kalispell, Montana, serving communities across the western United States. Through its primary banking subsidiary, Glacier Bank, the company offers a range of financial products, including commercial and consumer lending, deposit accounts, treasury management, mortgage banking, wealth management and insurance services. With locations in dozens of branches across Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Washington, Colorado and Arizona, it caters to individuals, small businesses and agribusiness clients.

Since its establishment in the mid-20th century as a community-focused savings institution, Glacier Bancorp has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions of regional banks, strengthening its presence in local markets.