Jane Street Group LLC Sells 63,048 Shares of TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN)

Jane Street Group LLC cut its stake in TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Free Report) by 84.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,917 shares of the bank's stock after selling 63,048 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC's holdings in TowneBank were worth $406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in TowneBank during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $22,894,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of TowneBank during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,122,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of TowneBank by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344,673 shares of the bank's stock valued at $147,980,000 after buying an additional 210,521 shares during the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of TowneBank during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,746,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of TowneBank in the fourth quarter worth $6,385,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.99% of the company's stock.

TowneBank Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TOWN traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $33.69. 232,329 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 257,181. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67 and a beta of 0.79. TowneBank has a 52 week low of $25.70 and a 52 week high of $38.28. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $33.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.62.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $190.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.29 million. TowneBank had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 15.77%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that TowneBank will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TowneBank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. This is a positive change from TowneBank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. TowneBank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TOWN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of TowneBank from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on TowneBank from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

About TowneBank

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.