Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 150,649 Towne Bank $TOWN

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Towne Bank by purchasing 150,649 shares valued at approximately $5.15 million, representing 0.20% ownership of the bank.
• The bank reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.81 for the recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.69, with revenue increasing 18.6% year-over-year.
• Towne Bank declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 with an annualized yield of 3.0%, to be paid on October 10th to shareholders of record on September 29th.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 150,649 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $5,151,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of Towne Bank as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in TOWN. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in Towne Bank during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Towne Bank in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Towne Bank by 2,332.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,624 shares of the bank's stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 3,475 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 137.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,121 shares of the bank's stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 2,960 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Towne Bank Price Performance

NASDAQ TOWN traded down $0.21 on Friday, hitting $36.36. The stock had a trading volume of 968,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 389,963. Towne Bank has a 52-week low of $29.43 and a 52-week high of $38.28. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.88 and a 200-day moving average of $34.52.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.12. Towne Bank had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 16.49%.The firm had revenue of $207.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Towne Bank will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Towne Bank Dividend Announcement

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 3.0%. Towne Bank's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.96%.

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.