Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Republic Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:RBCAA) shares saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 19,065 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 19% from the previous session’s volume of 23,431 shares.The stock last traded at $67.05 and had previously closed at $66.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Hovde Group cut their price target on Republic Bancorp from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Republic Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $68.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.68.

Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.22). Republic Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 20.05%.

Republic Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 18th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a $0.451 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This is a positive change from Republic Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Republic Bancorp’s payout ratio is 31.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Republic Bancorp

In related news, Director Heather V. Howell sold 1,496 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total value of $113,142.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $566,544.33. This trade represents a 16.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John T. Rippy sold 3,082 shares of Republic Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.99, for a total transaction of $203,381.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,105 shares in the company, valued at $1,524,698.95. This represents a 11.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,984 shares of company stock worth $409,910 over the last three months. Company insiders own 56.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Republic Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $2,931,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Republic Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $1,803,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Republic Bancorp by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 186,117 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,004,000 after acquiring an additional 22,818 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Republic Bancorp by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 36,567 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,555,000 after acquiring an additional 19,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Republic Bancorp by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 514,866 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,974,000 after acquiring an additional 19,756 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.37% of the company’s stock.

About Republic Bancorp

Republic Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for Republic Bank & Trust Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates in six segments: Traditional Banking, Warehouse, Mortgage Banking, Tax Refund Solutions, Republic Payment Solutions, and Republic Credit Solutions.