Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on INDB. Raymond James raised Independent Bank from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $74.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Independent Bank from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.00.

Independent Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ INDB opened at $67.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Independent Bank has a 1 year low of $45.11 and a 1 year high of $77.23. The company’s 50-day moving average is $68.49 and its 200 day moving average is $63.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 0.78.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last announced 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 return on equity of 6.74% and a net margin of 20.26%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Independent Bank will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.44%.

Institutional Trading of Independent Bank

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of INDB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 9.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,917 shares of the bank’s stock worth $109,443,000 after buying an additional 186,680 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Independent Bank by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,017,400 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,170,000 after acquiring an additional 8,987 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Independent Bank by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 523,659 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,964,000 after acquiring an additional 22,919 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Independent Bank by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 338,640 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,024,000 after purchasing an additional 126,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 258.9% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 299,234 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,177,000 after purchasing an additional 215,860 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Independent Bank Company Profile

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.