Martingale Asset Management L P Cuts Stock Position in Towne Bank $TOWN

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P reduced its stake in Towne Bank by 33.8%, holding 68,186 shares worth approximately $2.33 million after selling 34,769 shares in the first quarter.
• In the first quarter, several institutional investors adjusted their positions in Towne Bank, with Bessemer Group Inc. increasing its stake by 137.0% to own 5,121 shares.
• Towne Bank's stock has shown positive momentum, recently traded at $37.20, with a reported EPS of $0.81, beating analysts' estimates by $0.12.

Martingale Asset Management L P lowered its stake in shares of Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Free Report) by 33.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,186 shares of the bank's stock after selling 34,769 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P owned 0.09% of Towne Bank worth $2,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TOWN. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Towne Bank during the 4th quarter worth $22,894,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Towne Bank in the 1st quarter valued at about $15,584,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Towne Bank by 19.9% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,584,688 shares of the bank's stock worth $88,370,000 after buying an additional 429,487 shares in the last quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Towne Bank during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,908,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Towne Bank by 1,265.5% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 243,773 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,303,000 after acquiring an additional 225,921 shares in the last quarter. 55.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Towne Bank Stock Down 0.1%

TOWN traded down $0.06 on Thursday, reaching $36.82. The company had a trading volume of 57,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 261,571. Towne Bank has a 1 year low of $29.43 and a 1 year high of $38.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.58.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $207.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $202.18 million. Towne Bank had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 16.49%.The business's revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Towne Bank will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Towne Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 29th. Towne Bank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.96%.

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.