ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Sunday.

ACNB has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of ACNB in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on ACNB from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised ACNB from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $48.67.

ACNB Stock Performance

Shares of ACNB stock opened at $52.55 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $545.99 million, a P/E ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. ACNB has a 52 week low of $35.70 and a 52 week high of $53.89.

ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $40.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.69 million. ACNB had a return on equity of 12.77% and a net margin of 19.32%. Sell-side analysts expect that ACNB will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

ACNB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. ACNB’s payout ratio is 42.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin J. Hayes sold 750 shares of ACNB stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.30, for a total transaction of $38,475.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,021.60. This trade represents a 22.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Donald Arthur Seibel, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,927 shares in the company, valued at $302,277. This trade represents a 45.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,009 shares of company stock worth $510,520. 3.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ACNB by 9.9% in the third quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 345,626 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,221,000 after buying an additional 31,113 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in ACNB by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 320,055 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,475,000 after acquiring an additional 8,777 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in ACNB by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 243,474 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,432,000 after acquiring an additional 25,142 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in ACNB by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 148,523 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in ACNB by 3.6% during the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 100,511 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,306,000 after purchasing an additional 3,455 shares during the period. 32.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ACNB

ACNB Corporation is the bank holding company for ACNB Bank, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Tracing its roots to a local banking organization established in the 19th century, the company has evolved into a regional banking franchise serving individuals, families and businesses across south-central Pennsylvania. As a publicly traded company on NASDAQ under the ticker ACNB, it operates under a traditional community banking model, emphasizing personal service and local decision-making.

The company’s main business activities encompass a full range of retail and commercial banking products.