Independent Bank’s (INDB) Strong-Buy Rating Reiterated at Raymond James

Raymond James reissued their strong-buy rating on shares of Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $78.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $74.00.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Independent Bank from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.00.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

Independent Bank stock opened at $65.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Independent Bank has a 12 month low of $45.11 and a 12 month high of $77.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $68.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.37. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.78.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.05. Independent Bank had a net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 6.57%. Research analysts expect that Independent Bank will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 106.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 25,077 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after purchasing an additional 12,904 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Independent Bank during the 3rd quarter worth about $535,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 338,640 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,024,000 after acquiring an additional 126,791 shares during the period. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 454.7% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 23,237 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,374,000 after acquiring an additional 19,048 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 11.1% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 283,661 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,773,000 after acquiring an additional 28,373 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

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.