Rafferty Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in Towne Bank $TOWN

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Towne Bank by 28.7%, selling 13,420 shares and now owning 33,355 shares worth approximately $1.14 million.
• Towne Bank recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, with a yield of 2.9% and a payout ratio of 46.96%.
• The bank reported earnings of $0.81 per share in its last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 18.6%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Free Report) by 28.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,355 shares of the bank's stock after selling 13,420 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Towne Bank were worth $1,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TOWN. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Towne Bank in the first quarter worth $27,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Towne Bank in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 32.6% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,850 shares of the bank's stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 2,332.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,624 shares of the bank's stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 3,475 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Towne Bank by 137.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,121 shares of the bank's stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 2,960 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.99% of the company's stock.

Towne Bank Trading Down 0.6%

Towne Bank stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $36.36. The company had a trading volume of 968,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 348,951. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.56. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 0.87. Towne Bank has a 12-month low of $29.43 and a 12-month high of $38.28.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $207.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $202.18 million. Towne Bank had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 16.49%.The business's revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Towne Bank will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Towne Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 29th. Towne Bank's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TOWN. Hovde Group upped their target price on 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 raised Towne Bank from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Towne Bank currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.67.

Towne Bank Company 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.