NFJ Investment Group LLC Sells 9,505 Shares of Independent Bank Corp. $INDB

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in Independent Bank Corp. by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, owning 166,477 shares valued at approximately $10.43 million after selling 9,505 shares.
• Independent Bank Corp. reported $1.25 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates of $1.20, with a revenue of $181.80 million against a consensus estimate of $179.47 million.
• The bank recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.3% and a payout ratio of 53.27%.

NFJ Investment Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB - Free Report) by 5.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 166,477 shares of the bank's stock after selling 9,505 shares during the quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC owned 0.39% of Independent Bank worth $10,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in INDB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Independent Bank by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,134,903 shares of the bank's stock valued at $321,702,000 after purchasing an additional 116,820 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Independent Bank by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,339,253 shares of the bank's stock worth $146,554,000 after buying an additional 20,603 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Independent Bank by 910.4% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,078,311 shares of the bank's stock worth $67,556,000 after buying an additional 971,587 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 687.2% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 948,244 shares of the bank's stock valued at $60,868,000 after purchasing an additional 827,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 549,547 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,429,000 after purchasing an additional 4,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Independent Bank Price Performance

Shares of INDB traded down $0.96 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $71.09. 358,896 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 276,468. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $67.07 and a 200-day moving average of $63.61. Independent Bank Corp. has a one year low of $52.15 and a one year high of $77.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.05. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 6.39% and a net margin of 18.93%.The company had revenue of $181.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.47 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Independent Bank's dividend payout ratio is currently 53.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Independent Bank from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.00.

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.