Towne Bank $TOWN Shares Acquired by Panagora Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. has increased its ownership in Towne Bank by 42.2%, acquiring an additional 41,785 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total stake to 140,791 shares valued at approximately $4.81 million.
• Recent analyst upgrades include Hovde Group raising Towne Bank's price target from $39 to $41, categorizing it as an "outperform," and the stock currently holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $40.67.
• Towne Bank has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, to be paid on October 10th, offering a 2.9% yield based on its annualized payout of $1.08.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Free Report) by 42.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,791 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 41,785 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned 0.19% of Towne Bank worth $4,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TOWN. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Towne Bank in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Towne Bank during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Towne Bank by 32.6% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,850 shares of the bank's stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Towne Bank by 2,332.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,624 shares of the bank's stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,960 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TOWN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Hovde Group upped their price target on shares of Towne Bank from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report 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 assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.67.

Towne Bank Price Performance

TOWN stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $36.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 968,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 348,951. The stock has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Towne Bank has a fifty-two week low of $29.43 and a fifty-two week high of $38.28. The company's 50 day moving average is $35.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.56.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $207.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.18 million. Towne Bank had a net margin of 16.49% and a return on equity of 8.99%. Towne Bank's quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Towne Bank will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Towne Bank Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 29th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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.