Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate Independent Bank “Moderate Buy”, with four buy ratings, one strong-buy, one hold and one sell; the average 12-month price target is $91.86.
• The bank’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations, reporting $1.70 EPS versus the $1.79 consensus and revenue of $253.32 million versus $257.50 million expected.
• Independent Bank declared a quarterly dividend of $0.64 per share, equivalent to $2.56 annually and a 3.1% yield; institutional investors own 83.4% of the stock, while two directors recently reduced their holdings through share sales.

Shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $91.8571.

INDB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Independent Bank from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Independent Bank in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Independent Bank from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th.

Insider Transactions at Independent Bank

In other news, Director Gerard Nadeau sold 5,307 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.69, for a total value of $449,449.83. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,431,853.83. This represents a 23.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas R. Venables sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total value of $311,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,867. The trade was a 17.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independent Bank

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Independent Bank during the second quarter worth $1,461,000. Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Independent Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at about $217,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Independent Bank in the second quarter valued at approximately $140,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Independent Bank during the second quarter worth approximately $1,206,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Independent Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at $223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

NASDAQ:INDB traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $81.59. The company had a trading volume of 74,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 344,588. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Independent Bank has a 52 week low of $63.33 and a 52 week high of $87.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72 and a beta of 0.76. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $83.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.66.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $253.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $257.50 million. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 20.31%. On average, analysts forecast that Independent Bank will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 28th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 28th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Independent Bank's payout ratio is 46.21%.

About Independent Bank

Independent Bank Corp. is a bank holding company headquartered in Rockland, Massachusetts. Its principal subsidiary, Rockland Trust Company, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

Rockland Trust offers a range of consumer and commercial banking products, including checking and savings accounts, residential and commercial lending, mortgages, home equity financing, business loans, cash-management services and online and mobile banking.

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