Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Purchases 41,490 Shares of TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Free Report) by 201.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 62,130 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 41,490 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.08% of TowneBank worth $2,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in TowneBank by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 518,050 shares of the bank's stock valued at $17,645,000 after buying an additional 3,311 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in TowneBank 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 buying an additional 34,591 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in TowneBank by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344,673 shares of the bank's stock valued at $147,980,000 after buying an additional 210,521 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in TowneBank by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 75,107 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,559,000 after buying an additional 4,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in TowneBank during the fourth quarter valued at about $655,000. 55.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TowneBank Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TOWN traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $35.19. 251,107 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 254,983. The stock has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 0.79. The company's fifty day moving average is $33.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.63. TowneBank has a fifty-two week low of $25.70 and a fifty-two week high of $38.28.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $190.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.29 million. TowneBank had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 15.77%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. Research analysts forecast that TowneBank will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

TowneBank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This is a positive change from TowneBank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. TowneBank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on TOWN shares. Hovde Group increased their price target on TowneBank from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of TowneBank in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

About TowneBank

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.