Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNTY) Announces $0.24 Quarterly Dividend

Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNTY) made an important announcement on Thursday, December 19th, regarding its quarterly dividend. The company confirmed that stockholders who are on record as of Monday, December 30th, will receive a dividend payment of $0.24 per share. This payment is set to be processed on Wednesday, January 8th. Over a year, this payment totals to an annualized dividend of $0.96, providing shareholders with a dividend yield of 2.77%. Notably, the ex-dividend date for this distribution is also set for Monday, December 30th.

Guaranty Bancshares has continued to show commitment towards its shareholders, as evidenced by its consistent dividend increases, averaging 9.1% annually over the past three years. The company’s dividend payout ratio stands at a healthy 38.6%, indicating that earnings sufficiently support the dividend. Forecasts suggest that Guaranty Bancshares is expected to earn around $2.48 per share in the coming year, which implies that the dividend will be adequately covered with an expected payout ratio of 38.7%.

Stock Performance Trends

On the trading front, GNTY experienced a boost of 2.6%, rising by $0.87 to reach $34.69 on Friday. The day saw 96,893 shares traded, surpassing the average trading volume of 19,225 shares. Observing the stock's performance, it currently has a 50-day moving average price of $35.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.33. Over the past year, the stock has seen a low of $27.01 and a high of $38.93. The current market capitalization for Guaranty Bancshares is approximately $396.30 million, with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 0.60. The company's debt-to-equity ratio is 0.14, and both its quick and current ratios are recorded at 0.83.

Earlier, on October 21st, Guaranty Bancshares reported its quarterly earnings. The company announced earnings per share (EPS) of $0.65, exceeding the analysts' expectations, which were pegged at $0.62, by $0.03. Moreover, the reported revenue for the quarter was $45.59 million, far surpassing the anticipated figure of $29.40 million. The bank also achieved a return on equity of 8.86% alongside a net margin of 15.01%. In comparison, for the same period last year, the firm reported EPS of $0.54.

Insider Activity and Market Forecasts

In related news, CEO Tyson T. Abston sold 7,000 shares of company stock on November 6th, with the sale occurring at an average price of $34.02. The total value of this transaction amounted to $238,140. Following this sale, Abston's holdings in Guaranty Bancshares tally up to 101,000 shares, valued at approximately $3,436,020. This represented a 6.48% decline in his ownership percentage. It is noteworthy that insiders own about 26.39% of the company’s stock.

Market analysts are generally optimistic about Guaranty Bancshares. Recently, several brokerage firms have revised their price targets for the company's stock. For example, on October 22nd, Stephens raised their price target from $38.00 to $40.00 and assigned an "overweight" rating. Similarly, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods adjusted their target price on December 4th from $35.00 to $40.00, maintaining a "market perform" rating.

Company Overview

Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Guaranty Bank & Trust, N.A., offering a variety of banking products and services targeted towards small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals. Their services encompass checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, business accounts, certificates of deposit, loans across various domains, including commercial and residential spaces, and more.

Dividend, Stocks, Earnings