Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the three research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $79.00.

A number of analysts have weighed in on INDB shares. StockNews.com upgraded Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Independent Bank from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a research note on Tuesday.

Institutional Trading of Independent Bank

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC increased its stake in Independent Bank by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 150,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,631,000 after purchasing an additional 16,504 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,911 shares of the bank’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 23,394 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,502,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC acquired a new position in shares of Independent Bank in the 4th quarter valued at $250,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Independent Bank in the 4th quarter worth $5,586,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Independent Bank Trading Down 2.2 %

INDB opened at $65.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Independent Bank has a 52 week low of $45.11 and a 52 week high of $77.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $68.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.37.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.05. Independent Bank had a net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 6.57%. Analysts forecast that Independent Bank will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is presently 50.44%.

About Independent Bank

Independent Bank Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Rockland Trust Company that provides commercial banking products and services to individuals and small-to-medium sized businesses in the United States. The company provides interest checking, money market, and savings accounts, as well as demand deposits and time certificates of deposit.