Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Acquires Shares of 11,359 Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN)

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a stake of 11,359 shares in Towne Bank valued at approximately $388,000, indicating growing institutional interest in the bank.
• Towne Bank recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.25 to $0.27 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 3.1%.
• Analysts have upgraded Towne Bank's rating, with Hovde Group increasing its price target from $39 to $41, while several institutional investors increased their holdings during recent quarters.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,359 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $388,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TOWN. 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 valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 137.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,121 shares of the bank's stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 2,960 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 688,871 shares of the bank's stock valued at $23,463,000 after purchasing an additional 34,591 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 2,332.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,624 shares of the bank's stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Towne Bank in the first quarter valued at approximately $525,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on TOWN shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Towne Bank from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Hovde Group lifted their price objective 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.

Towne Bank Trading Down 0.9%

TOWN traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $35.05. 131,111 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 253,502. Towne Bank has a 12-month low of $29.43 and a 12-month high of $38.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.76 and a 200 day moving average of $34.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Towne Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This is an increase from Towne Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. 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.