James Investment Research Inc. Sells 10,990 Shares of MutualFirst Financial Inc. (MFSF)

James Investment Research Inc. reduced its stake in shares of MutualFirst Financial Inc. (NASDAQ:MFSF) by 30.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,525 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 10,990 shares during the period. James Investment Research Inc. owned about 0.33% of MutualFirst Financial worth $876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of MutualFirst Financial by 424.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,933 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 3,183 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of MutualFirst Financial by 6.6% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 166,481 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,252,000 after buying an additional 10,301 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of MutualFirst Financial by 1.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 388,022 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,242,000 after buying an additional 6,594 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of MutualFirst Financial by 2.2% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,370 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MutualFirst Financial by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,842 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,053,000 after buying an additional 2,715 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.79% of the company’s stock.

Shares of MutualFirst Financial Inc. (MFSF) traded down 1.16% during midday trading on Friday, hitting $34.15. The stock had a trading volume of 15,456 shares. The stock has a market cap of $252.06 million, a PE ratio of 18.46 and a beta of 0.35. MutualFirst Financial Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.30 and a 52-week high of $36.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $34.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.13.

MutualFirst Financial (NASDAQ:MFSF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $16.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.40 million. MutualFirst Financial had a net margin of 18.53% and a return on equity of 9.66%. Equities analysts predict that MutualFirst Financial Inc. will post $1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 8th will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. MutualFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.59%.

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Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Investment Research upgraded MutualFirst Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Saturday, July 29th. TheStreet downgraded MutualFirst Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. DA Davidson raised MutualFirst Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. BidaskClub cut MutualFirst Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of MutualFirst Financial in a report on Friday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.33.

In related news, COO Patrick C. Botts sold 942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.75, for a total value of $32,734.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 23,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $808,319.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider David Wayne Heeter sold 2,433 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.08, for a total transaction of $85,349.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,608,874.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,161 shares of company stock valued at $1,299,609. 11.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MutualFirst Financial Company Profile

MutualFirst Financial, Inc (MutualFirst) is the bank holding company of MutualBank (MutualBank or the Bank). The Bank offers financial services through approximately 30 full service retail financial center offices in Allen, Delaware, Elkhart, Grant, Kosciusko, Randolph, Saint Joseph and Wabash counties in Indiana.