MidWestOne Financial Group (NASDAQ:MOFG) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MOFG) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $42.50 and last traded at $42.6150, with a volume of 104476 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $41.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MOFG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on MidWestOne Financial Group from $37.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MidWestOne Financial Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stephens downgraded MidWestOne Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.17.

MidWestOne Financial Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $871.39 million, a PE ratio of 15.03 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

MidWestOne Financial Group (NASDAQ:MOFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $112.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.07 million. MidWestOne Financial Group had a return on equity of 10.22% and a net margin of 16.66%. On average, equities analysts expect that MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

MidWestOne Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.2425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $0.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. MidWestOne Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.52%.

Insider Activity at MidWestOne Financial Group

In related news, CEO Charles N. Reeves purchased 1,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $36.67 per share, with a total value of $56,838.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 60,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,220,075.14. The trade was a 2.63% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 3,760 shares of company stock worth $138,546. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MidWestOne Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MOFG. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in MidWestOne Financial Group by 242.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 40,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,191,000 after buying an additional 28,473 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MidWestOne Financial Group by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 11,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MidWestOne Financial Group by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 531,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,744,000 after purchasing an additional 76,368 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of MidWestOne Financial Group by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 68,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 5,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarius Group LLC bought a new stake in MidWestOne Financial Group in the second quarter worth $331,000. 65.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MidWestOne Financial Group Company Profile

MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc (NASDAQ: MOFG) is a registered bank holding company headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa. Through its principal subsidiary, MidWestOne Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of commercial and consumer banking products and services. Its commercial banking division offers business lending solutions, including commercial real estate loans, business lines of credit, equipment financing and treasury management services. For individual customers, MidWestOne delivers checking and savings accounts, home mortgage and home equity loans, and personal lending solutions.

Beyond traditional banking, MidWestOne offers trust, wealth management and insurance services through specialized teams of financial advisors.