Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) Shares Gap Down to $49.45

Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $49.45, but opened at $47.84. Independent Bank shares last traded at $49.82, with a volume of 24,437 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on INDB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Independent Bank from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. TheStreet cut shares of Independent Bank from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th.

Independent Bank Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.83.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The bank reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $177.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.75 million. Independent Bank had a net margin of 26.02% and a return on equity of 8.35%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is an increase from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.67%. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is 42.07%.

Insider Activity

In other Independent Bank news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.83, for a total value of $42,264.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,640 shares in the company, valued at $614,941.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in Independent Bank by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 518,119 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,097,000 after buying an additional 93,901 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Independent Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,663,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Independent Bank during the 4th quarter valued at $3,463,000. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Independent Bank during the 3rd quarter worth $399,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Independent Bank in the third quarter valued at about $659,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.