Investors in Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYBT) had a good week, as its shares rose 4.3% to close at US$51.13 following the release of its full-year results. Results look mixed - while revenue fell marginally short of analyst estimates at US$324m, statutory earnings were in line with expectations, at US$3.67 per share. The analysts typically update their forecasts at each earnings report, and we can judge from their estimates whether their view of the company has changed or if there are any new concerns to be aware of. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for Stock Yards Bancorp

After the latest results, the three analysts covering Stock Yards Bancorp are now predicting revenues of US$337.1m in 2024. If met, this would reflect a reasonable 3.9% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are expected to reduce 9.7% to US$3.32 in the same period. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$332.8m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$3.30 in 2024. So it's pretty clear that, although the analysts have updated their estimates, there's been no major change in expectations for the business following the latest results.

The consensus price target rose 7.0% to US$56.33despite there being no meaningful change to earnings estimates. It could be that the analystsare reflecting the predictability of Stock Yards Bancorp's earnings by assigning a price premium. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. There are some variant perceptions on Stock Yards Bancorp, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$62.00 and the most bearish at US$53.00 per share. The narrow spread of estimates could suggest that the business' future is relatively easy to value, or thatthe analysts have a strong view on its prospects.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that Stock Yards Bancorp's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2024 expected to display 3.9% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 18% over the past five years. Compare this against other companies (with analyst forecasts) in the industry, which are in aggregate expected to see revenue growth of 5.6% annually. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Stock Yards Bancorp is also expected to grow slower than other industry participants.