Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $179.50.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nicolet Bankshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Maxim Group increased their price target on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $161.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nicolet Bankshares in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Hovde Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Nicolet Bankshares in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th.

Insider Activity at Nicolet Bankshares

In related news, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 6,396 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.47, for a total transaction of $994,386.12. Following the sale, the director directly owned 34,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,294,375.38. This trade represents a 15.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 16.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nicolet Bankshares

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 150.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 13,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,524,000 after acquiring an additional 8,410 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nicolet Bankshares by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Nicolet Bankshares by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 29,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,245,000 after buying an additional 1,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.06% of the company’s stock.

Nicolet Bankshares Trading Down 1.5%

Nicolet Bankshares stock opened at $158.14 on Friday. Nicolet Bankshares has a 12 month low of $97.90 and a 12 month high of $163.11. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.14 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $133.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $103.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.67 million. Nicolet Bankshares had a return on equity of 12.65% and a net margin of 26.98%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nicolet Bankshares will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nicolet Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Nicolet Bankshares’s dividend 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.