Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) Position Reduced by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,379 shares of the bank's stock after selling 9,228 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Towne Bank worth $3,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 17,067 shares of the bank's stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Towne Bank by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 147,115 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,011,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Towne Bank during the fourth quarter valued at about $224,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Towne Bank by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 34,790 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 8,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Towne Bank in the fourth quarter worth about $302,000. 55.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TOWN shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Towne Bank from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of Towne Bank from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Towne Bank Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ TOWN traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.70. The company had a trading volume of 304,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 253,975. Towne Bank has a 52-week low of $29.43 and a 52-week high of $38.28. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.35.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.07. Towne Bank had a net margin of 17.15% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company had revenue of $190.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $191.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. The business's revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Towne Bank will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Towne Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. This is a boost from Towne Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. Towne Bank's payout ratio is 45.76%.

Towne Bank Profile

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.