Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) Trading Up 5.5% Following Strong Earnings

Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) shares rose 5.5% on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $67.80 and last traded at $67.44. Approximately 79,403 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 214,956 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.92.

The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.05. Independent Bank had a net margin of 20.26% and a return on equity of 6.74%.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Independent Bank from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $74.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Independent Bank

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in Independent Bank by 364.9% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,213 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Independent Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at about $222,000. Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Independent Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at about $229,000. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Independent Bank in the fourth quarter worth approximately $250,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Independent Bank in the third quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Independent Bank Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average of $68.49 and a 200-day moving average of $62.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

About Independent Bank

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.