Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Broker sentiment is cautiously positive on Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida, with six covering analysts splitting evenly between hold and buy ratings, resulting in an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy.” The average 12-month price target is about $33.13.
• The company beat earnings expectations in its latest quarterly report, posting $0.62 EPS versus the $0.58 consensus, while revenue rose 45.8% year over year to $205.1 million.
• Seacoast also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, which implies an annualized yield of about 2.5%. Insiders have recently sold shares, while institutional investors continue to hold the large majority of the stock.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.1250.

A number of research firms have commented on SBCF. Weiss Ratings upgraded Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida from $33.50 to $32.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd.

Insider Activity at Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida

In related news, EVP Joseph M. Forlenza sold 12,635 shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total value of $415,691.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,392 shares in the company, valued at $1,394,696.80. This trade represents a 22.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dennis S. Hudson III sold 8,000 shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.34, for a total transaction of $250,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 236,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,423,004.36. This trade represents a 3.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 38,554 shares of company stock valued at $1,221,865 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SBCF. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 213.5% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 44,789 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 30,502 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,224,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $69,892,000 after purchasing an additional 76,192 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,088,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $222,732,000 after purchasing an additional 705,554 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 48.2% during the third quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 187,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,717,000 after purchasing an additional 61,119 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 64.6% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 108,063 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,288,000 after purchasing an additional 42,405 shares during the period. 81.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida Price Performance

SBCF opened at $30.19 on Tuesday. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has a 12-month low of $23.48 and a 12-month high of $35.55. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $30.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.79. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.86 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.04. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 14.42%.The company had revenue of $205.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 45.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.00%.

About Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida operates as a bank holding company through its principal subsidiary, Seacoast National Bank. Headquartered in Stuart, Florida, Seacoast National Bank provides a full range of commercial and retail banking services across the coastal region of Florida. Its network of branches serves customers from Martin County through Miami-Dade County, offering deposit accounts, lending solutions, cash management and payment services to individuals, small businesses and middle-market companies.

In addition to traditional banking, Seacoast offers specialized mortgage lending and wealth management services.

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