We recently published a list of 20 Small-Cap Stocks Insiders Were Buying in Q1 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) stands against other small-cap stocks insiders were buying in Q1 2025.
President Donald Trump’s initial unilateral 10% tariff went into effect on Saturday, at least partly causing the drop in the stock market. On Sunday, the President said “I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” as reported by CNBC.
On Monday morning, the broader market index lost 1.87%, marking an 11% loss over the past five trading days, signaling the possibility of entering a bear market. Also, during Monday’s morning session, the blue-chip companies declined 2.34% and the NASDAQ Composite lost 1.57%.
Amid market uncertainty, insider trading often attracts attention. Executive stock purchases can indicate optimism, while sales might reflect personal financial decisions or investment diversification. Executives usually follow pre-arranged strategies, such as 10b5-1 plans, and insider trading should be considered alongside the company’s financial health and market conditions.
Our Methodology
Today, we’re focusing on stocks with small market capitalizations that have seen heavy insider buying activity in the first quarter of the year. Using Insider Monkey’s insider trading screener, we identified companies with market caps between $250 million and $2 billion, where at least four insiders purchased shares in the past three months. From this list, we ranked the top 20 stocks with the highest number of insiders making purchases. Stocks that have been recently covered were excluded from our analysis.
Our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds, focusing on insider trading and stock picks from hedge fund investor newsletters and conferences. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
For each stock, we note the number of insiders who acquired shares in the first quarter and the market capitalizations. Let’s take a look at the 20 small-cap stocks insiders were buying in Q1 2025.
An exterior view of a well-maintained regional bank, with a flag flying proudly on top.
German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC)
Number of insiders buying: 6
Market Capitalization: $1.31 billion
German American Bancorp is a financial holding company that operates German American Bank, offering retail and commercial banking services, as well as wealth management services. The Jasper, Indiana-based company provides various banking products, including loans, deposits, and investment services, through its Core Banking and Wealth Management segments. On February 2, German American Bancorp completed its merger with Heartland BancCorp, the parent company of Heartland Bank.
During the first quarter, six insiders acquired around $59,288 worth of German American Bancorp shares at an average price of $39.39 per share. Currently, the stock trades at $34.96 per share, having lost 13.98% since the beginning of the year. Over the past 12 months, German American Bancorp shares returned 3.77%.
For the full year 2024, the company reported earnings of $83.81 million, or $2.83 per share, down from net income of $85.89 million, or $2.91 per share in 2023. This level of reported annual earnings resulted in a 12.2% return on average shareholders’ equity, marking the 20th consecutive fiscal year in which German American Bancorp has delivered a double-digit return on shareholders’ equity. The company also announced a 7.4% increase to its quarterly dividend, marking the 13th consecutive year of increased cash dividends.
German American Bank ranked second on Forbes’ America’s Best Banks 2025 list, making it the highest-ranked bank serving Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.
According to TipRanks, three analysts rate German American Bancorp as a “Moderate Buy” with a price target of $48.33 per share. The average price target suggests a 38.24% upside from the latest price.
Overall, GABC ranks 4th on our list of small-cap stocks insiders were buying in Q1 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of GABC, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GABC but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
