Maltese Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Independent Bank Corp. $INDB

Key Points

• Maltese Capital Management cut its stake in Independent Bank by 17% in the fourth quarter, selling 13,000 shares and leaving it with 63,500 shares valued at about $4.64 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with investors like Vanguard, Norges Bank, and Citadel making sizable moves in the stock; institutions now own 83.4% of Independent Bank.
• Analysts are broadly positive on INDB, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.71, while the stock was trading around $82.05 and recently paid a higher quarterly dividend of $0.64 per share.

Maltese Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB - Free Report) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,500 shares of the bank's stock after selling 13,000 shares during the quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Independent Bank worth $4,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Independent Bank by 14.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,943,817 shares of the bank's stock worth $411,134,000 after purchasing an additional 769,086 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Independent Bank in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,117,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 57.9% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,703,144 shares of the bank's stock worth $107,102,000 after acquiring an additional 624,833 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in Independent Bank by 84.1% during the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 1,261,622 shares of the bank's stock valued at $92,199,000 after acquiring an additional 576,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Independent Bank by 473.0% during the third quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 349,635 shares of the bank's stock valued at $24,184,000 after acquiring an additional 288,613 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on INDB. Independent Research set a $95.00 price target on Independent Bank in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on Independent Bank from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Independent Bank from $96.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on Independent Bank in a research report on Friday, May 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens began coverage on Independent Bank in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $90.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph C. Lerner sold 2,832 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.31, for a total value of $218,941.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,215 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,253,581.65. This represents a 14.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Independent Bank Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Independent Bank stock opened at $82.05 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $78.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 0.78. Independent Bank Corp. has a 12-month low of $57.01 and a 12-month high of $87.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.02). Independent Bank had a return on equity of 8.66% and a net margin of 19.14%.The company had revenue of $252.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Independent Bank Corp. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th were paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. This is a boost from Independent Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Independent Bank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.79%.

Independent Bank Company Profile

Independent Bank Group, Inc NASDAQ: INDB is a bank holding company headquartered in McKinney, Texas, that provides a range of financial services through its wholly owned subsidiary, Independent Bank. Tracing its roots to the late 19th century, the company has grown from a single community bank into a regional financial institution serving individuals, small businesses and commercial clients. Independent Bank Group became a bank holding company in 1983 and expanded its footprint through organic growth and strategic acquisitions.

The company's primary business activities encompass retail and commercial banking, including deposit products, consumer and business lending and credit services.

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