Raymond James Financial Inc. Sells 28,470 Shares of Towne Bank $TOWN

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in Towne Bank by 6.9%, currently owning 386,167 shares valued at approximately $13.20 million.
• Towne Bank has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with a target price of $40.67, following recent upgrades from several research firms.
• The bank has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.9%, set to be paid on October 10th.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lowered its stake in Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 386,167 shares of the bank's stock after selling 28,470 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.51% of Towne Bank worth $13,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Towne Bank by 107.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,619 shares of the bank's stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 2,908 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Towne Bank by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 75,107 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,559,000 after acquiring an additional 4,489 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Towne Bank by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 688,871 shares of the bank's stock valued at $23,463,000 after acquiring an additional 34,591 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Towne Bank by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 518,050 shares of the bank's stock valued at $17,645,000 after acquiring an additional 3,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Towne Bank by 201.0% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 62,130 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,116,000 after acquiring an additional 41,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.99% of the company's stock.

Towne Bank Trading Up 1.2%

TOWN stock traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $36.57. 546,062 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 332,106. 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 52-week low of $29.43 and a 52-week high of $38.28. The company has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 0.87. The stock's fifty day moving average is $35.84 and its 200-day moving average is $34.57.

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

Towne Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be given a $0.27 dividend. 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 46.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Hovde Group upped their price target on shares of Towne Bank from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Towne Bank from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Two 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, Towne Bank presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.67.

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.