TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Hovde Group

Hovde Group upgraded shares of TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. Hovde Group currently has $38.00 target price on the bank’s stock, down from their prior target price of $39.00.

Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of TowneBank in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

TowneBank Price Performance

NASDAQ TOWN opened at $30.61 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.45 and a 200-day moving average of $34.83. TowneBank has a 12 month low of $25.70 and a 12 month high of $38.28. The company has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 0.79.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.07. TowneBank had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 7.77%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that TowneBank will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

TowneBank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. TowneBank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of TowneBank by 137.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 2,829 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in TowneBank by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,712 shares of the bank’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 4,931 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in TowneBank in the third quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of TowneBank by 1.1% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 101,330 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of TowneBank by 10.5% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 74,965 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 7,137 shares in the last quarter. 55.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TowneBank Company Profile

TowneBank provides retail and commercial banking services for individuals, commercial enterprises, and professionals. The company operates through three segments: Banking, Realty, and Insurance. It accepts various deposits, including demand deposits, savings accounts, money rate savings, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts.