Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in The Bancorp, Inc. $TBBK

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in The Bancorp by 8.3% in the first quarter, adding 27,058 shares to bring its total holding to 352,786 shares worth about $18.96 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding 96.22% of the company’s stock; several firms also recently boosted their positions.
• Bancorp beat quarterly EPS expectations with $1.41 per share versus the $1.34 consensus, though revenue came in below estimates. Analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $63.40.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in The Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:TBBK - Free Report) by 8.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 352,786 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 27,058 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.84% of Bancorp worth $18,955,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Bancorp by 3,498.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,751 shares of the bank's stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 9,480 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $2,699,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Bancorp by 4.1% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,856 shares of the bank's stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Bancorp by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,985 shares of the bank's stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,010,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.22% of the company's stock.

Bancorp Trading Down 0.9%

TBBK opened at $66.48 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $59.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.44. The Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.20 and a 1-year high of $81.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 1.19.

Bancorp (NASDAQ:TBBK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $132.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $189.17 million. Bancorp had a return on equity of 30.56% and a net margin of 26.92%. Analysts expect that The Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Bancorp

In other Bancorp news, CMO Maria Wainwright sold 8,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.24, for a total value of $506,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 24,942 shares in the company, valued at $1,502,506.08. This represents a 25.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erika R. Caesar sold 4,470 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.28, for a total value of $269,451.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 32,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,982,006.40. This trade represents a 11.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TBBK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Bancorp in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Bancorp from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $77.00 in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bancorp from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Bancorp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.40.

About Bancorp

The Bancorp, Inc NASDAQ: TBBK is a Delaware-chartered bank holding company that provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and financial institutions across the United States. Through its subsidiary, The Bancorp Bank, the company offers FDIC-insured deposit accounts, cash management solutions and specialized lending products. Its business model focuses on partnering with fintech firms, asset managers and payment processors to deliver integrated banking-as-a-service (BaaS) capabilities.

The company's product suite includes interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit and debit and credit card services.

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