Glacier Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:GBCI) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:GBCI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.17.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Glacier Bancorp in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Glacier Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Craig Langel bought 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $47.04 per share, with a total value of $105,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 98,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,642,095.36. This trade represents a 2.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Glacier Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Glacier Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $913,766,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Glacier Bancorp by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,330,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,736,000 after acquiring an additional 237,316 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its position in Glacier Bancorp by 13.4% during the first quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,885,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,235,000 after acquiring an additional 223,318 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Glacier Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $67,582,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Glacier Bancorp by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,332,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,695,000 after purchasing an additional 181,903 shares in the last quarter. 80.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Glacier Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE:GBCI opened at $43.41 on Friday. Glacier Bancorp has a 12-month low of $39.90 and a 12-month high of $54.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.79 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.76. The company had revenue of $320.94 million during the quarter. Glacier Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 19.72%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Glacier Bancorp will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Glacier Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Glacier Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. Glacier Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.10%.

Glacier Bancorp Company Profile

Glacier Bancorp, Inc is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Kalispell, Montana. Through its principal subsidiary, Glacier Bank, the company provides community banking services to individuals, families, businesses and public-sector customers.

Its products and services include consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer loans, business financing, online and mobile banking, and other treasury and cash-management services.