Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SBCF. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (up previously from $29.00) on shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.00.

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SBCF opened at $22.69 on Thursday. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida has a 1 year low of $21.90 and a 1 year high of $31.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.60.

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.15. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida had a return on equity of 5.91% and a net margin of 14.95%. As a group, research analysts predict that Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida by 154.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida by 811.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.77% of the company’s stock.

About Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida

Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of integrated financial services. It provides banking and investment services to businesses and consumers, including personal and business deposit products, Internet and mobile banking, personal, commercial and mortgage loans, wealth management services, and treasury management solutions.