Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Cuts Holdings in Towne Bank $TOWN

Key Points

• Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP reduced its stake in Towne Bank by 60.8% during the first quarter, holding 6,954 shares worth approximately $238,000 after selling 10,803 shares.
• Recent analysis shows that analysts predict Towne Bank will report an earnings per share of 2.6 for the current fiscal year, with several equity analysts rating the stock as a "Moderate Buy".
• Towne Bank's stock saw a one-year price range between $29.43 and $38.28, with current trading around $37.20.

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lessened its position in Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Free Report) by 60.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,954 shares of the bank's stock after selling 10,803 shares during the period. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP's holdings in Towne Bank were worth $238,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Towne Bank in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Towne Bank in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Towne Bank by 32.6% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,850 shares of the bank's stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Towne Bank by 2,332.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,624 shares of the bank's stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Towne Bank by 137.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,121 shares of the bank's stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 2,960 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.99% of the company's stock.

Towne Bank Stock Performance

Shares of Towne Bank stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $36.83. The company had a trading volume of 61,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 261,610. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.50 and a 200 day moving average of $34.58. Towne Bank has a 52-week low of $29.43 and a 52-week high of $38.28.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $207.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.18 million. Towne Bank had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 16.49%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Towne Bank will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Towne Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 29th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Towne Bank's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Towne Bank from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Hovde Group boosted their target price on Towne Bank from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Towne Bank currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.67.

About Towne Bank

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.