Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Independent Bank's rating was downgraded by Zacks Research from "strong-buy" to "hold," reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• The stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $71.00, while recent analyst reports have lowered price objectives.
• Independent Bank reported $1.25 earnings per share in its last quarter, exceeding expectations, and shows potential growth with analysts predicting a full-year EPS of 5.41.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on INDB. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Independent Bank from $74.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Independent Bank from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Independent Bank from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.00.

Independent Bank Trading Down 0.5%

INDB stock traded down $0.38 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $70.56. The company had a trading volume of 249,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 342,545. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $65.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.47. Independent Bank has a 12 month low of $52.15 and a 12 month high of $77.23. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 0.87.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.05. Independent Bank had a net margin of 18.93% and a return on equity of 6.39%. The firm had revenue of $181.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.47 million. As a group, analysts predict that Independent Bank will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independent Bank

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,134,903 shares of the bank's stock valued at $321,702,000 after buying an additional 116,820 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Independent Bank by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,339,253 shares of the bank's stock worth $146,554,000 after acquiring an additional 20,603 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Independent Bank by 57.9% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,703,144 shares of the bank's stock worth $107,102,000 after acquiring an additional 624,833 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Independent Bank by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,049,086 shares of the bank's stock worth $65,980,000 after acquiring an additional 6,889 shares during the period. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its stake in Independent Bank by 687.2% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 948,244 shares of the bank's stock worth $60,868,000 after acquiring an additional 827,793 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Independent Bank Company Profile

Independent Bank Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Rockland Trust Company that provides commercial banking products and services to individuals and small-to-medium sized businesses in the United States. The company provides interest checking, money market, and savings accounts, as well as demand deposits and time certificates of deposit.