TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) Raised to “Outperform” at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $40.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $35.00.

Separately, StockNews.com raised TowneBank from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

TowneBank Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TOWN opened at $33.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.47. TowneBank has a fifty-two week low of $21.63 and a fifty-two week high of $35.10.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.09. TowneBank had a net margin of 15.33% and a return on equity of 7.56%. The company had revenue of $174.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.20 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. TowneBank’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that TowneBank will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

TowneBank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. TowneBank’s payout ratio is 49.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TowneBank

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TOWN. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in TowneBank by 94.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 47,696 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,271,000 after acquiring an additional 23,184 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in TowneBank by 92.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 181,730 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,099,000 after buying an additional 87,332 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in TowneBank by 2,100.3% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 21,519 shares of the bank’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 20,541 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in TowneBank by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 504,926 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,769,000 after buying an additional 21,143 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in TowneBank by 224.3% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 47,995 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,309,000 after buying an additional 33,195 shares during 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.