Zacks Research Upgrades S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) to Strong-Buy

S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

STBA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of S&T Bancorp in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of S&T Bancorp from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Hovde Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $54.00 price target (up from $47.00) on shares of S&T Bancorp in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of S&T Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of S&T Bancorp from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, S&T Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.60.

S&T Bancorp Price Performance

STBA stock opened at $52.95 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. S&T Bancorp has a 1 year low of $34.01 and a 1 year high of $53.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.52.

S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $105.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $104.43 million. S&T Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 24.51%. On average, equities analysts predict that S&T Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&T Bancorp announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On S&T Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of S&T Bancorp by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in S&T Bancorp by 5.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in S&T Bancorp by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in S&T Bancorp by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 8,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in S&T Bancorp by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. 65.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About S&T Bancorp

S&T Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania, serving as the parent of S&T Bank. Established as a banking organization in 1902 with the holding company formation following in the early 1980s, S&T Bancorp has built its reputation on delivering community-oriented financial services. The company operates under the NASDAQ ticker STBA, maintaining a focus on personalized banking solutions and local decision-making.

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