Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,482,171 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,970 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.98% of TowneBank worth $254,843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of TowneBank during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,122,000. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of TowneBank in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,746,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of TowneBank by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,155,201 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,406,000 after acquiring an additional 180,330 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of TowneBank by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 537,845 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,319,000 after purchasing an additional 88,277 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in TowneBank by 90.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 143,914 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,758,000 after acquiring an additional 68,479 shares during the period. 55.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TOWN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of TowneBank in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group upgraded shares of TowneBank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday.

TowneBank Stock Down 0.8 %

TOWN stock opened at $30.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 0.79. TowneBank has a twelve month low of $25.70 and a twelve month high of $38.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.82.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.07. TowneBank had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 15.77%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that TowneBank will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

TowneBank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. TowneBank’s dividend payout ratio is 46.51%.

About TowneBank

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.