Private Trust Co. NA Takes Position in Towne Bank $TOWN

Private Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,169 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 37.2% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 13.2% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,382 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 11.2% in the second quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 7,137 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 721 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 11.9% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 15,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Group LLC purchased a new position in Towne Bank in the 2nd quarter worth about $230,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Towne Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of Towne Bank from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Towne Bank in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Towne Bank has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Towne Bank Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of Towne Bank stock opened at $33.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Towne Bank has a 1 year low of $29.43 and a 1 year high of $38.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.55. The stock has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 0.84.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.08. Towne Bank had a net margin of 15.69% and a return on equity of 9.86%. The company had revenue of $215.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $222.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Towne Bank will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Towne Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 29th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 29th. Towne Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.96%.

About Towne Bank

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.