Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Seacoast Banking (NASDAQ:SBCF) has a consensus analyst rating of Hold from seven firms (four hold, three buy) with an average 12‑month target of $31.90.
• Insiders have been selling recently—totaling 29,752 shares (~$976,846) over the past 90 days, including Director Dennis S. Hudson III (8,000 shares at $31.34) and EVP Joseph M. Forlenza (12,635 shares at $32.90)—leaving insiders with 1.50% ownership.
• Major institutional investors have been adding to positions (notably Wellington, North Reef, Tributary and Vanguard), and institutional ownership is high at 81.77%.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.90.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on 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. Zacks Research lowered Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida

In related news, Director Dennis S. Hudson III sold 8,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director owned 236,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,423,004.36. This represents a 3.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph M. Forlenza sold 12,635 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 approximately $1,394,696.80. This represents a 22.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 29,752 shares of company stock valued at $976,846 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SBCF. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 58.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,482,250 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $166,825,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025,988 shares during the last quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 5,832,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $183,244,000 after acquiring an additional 837,075 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 99.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 1,459,462 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,411,000 after acquiring an additional 727,428 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,088,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $222,732,000 after acquiring an additional 705,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida in the 3rd quarter valued at $14,865,000. 81.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida Stock Down 0.1%

SBCF stock opened at $32.02 on Friday. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has a fifty-two week low of $22.22 and a fifty-two week high of $35.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $31.38 and a 200-day moving average of $31.76.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $204.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.25 million. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida had a net margin of 15.47% and a return on equity of 7.07%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 53.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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