Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $11.84 Million Stock Position in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 200,287 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 36,600 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.47% of Independent Bank worth $11,843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Independent Bank by 106.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 25,077 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 12,904 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in Independent Bank in the third quarter valued at approximately $535,000. Eastern Bank increased its stake in Independent Bank by 454.7% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 23,237 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 19,048 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Independent Bank in the second quarter worth $5,405,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position 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 worth $16,773,000 after purchasing an additional 28,373 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

INDB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Independent Bank from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Independent Bank from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.00.

Independent Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ INDB opened at $65.00 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $68.85 and its 200-day moving average is $61.40. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 0.76. Independent Bank Corp. has a 1-year low of $45.11 and a 1-year high of $77.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $250.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.24 million. Independent Bank had a net margin of 20.26% and a return on equity of 6.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is currently 49.57%.

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.