Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 11,772 Independent Bank Co. (NASDAQ:IBCP)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Independent Bank Co. (NASDAQ:IBCP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 11,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of IBCP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Independent Bank by 202.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 171,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,706,000 after purchasing an additional 114,487 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Independent Bank during the third quarter valued at approximately $279,000. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Independent Bank by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 26,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 647,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,597,000 after buying an additional 29,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Independent Bank by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 21,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 2,213 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on IBCP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $41.00 target price (up from $39.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a report on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Independent Bank from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Independent Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IBCP opened at $28.56 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.70 and a 200 day moving average of $34.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Independent Bank Co. has a twelve month low of $22.53 and a twelve month high of $40.32. The firm has a market cap of $598.99 million, a P/E ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 0.85.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:IBCP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.10. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 20.67%. As a group, research analysts expect that Independent Bank Co. will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This is a positive change from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is currently 32.91%.

Independent Bank Profile

Independent Bank Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Independent Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in rural and suburban communities in Michigan. It offers checking and savings accounts, commercial lending, direct and indirect consumer financing, mortgage lending, and safe deposit box services.