Independent Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:IBCP) Short Interest Update

Independent Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:IBCP) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 644,457 shares, an increase of 37.2% from the March 15th total of 469,885 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 297,572 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on IBCP. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Independent Bank in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Independent Bank from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IBCP. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 45.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 34,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 11,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 22,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 4.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 11,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Independent Bank Trading Down 1.0%

Independent Bank stock opened at $34.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $699.99 million, a PE ratio of 10.37 and a beta of 0.76. Independent Bank has a 12-month low of $29.43 and a 12-month high of $37.39.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:IBCP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $46.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.52 million. Independent Bank had a net margin of 21.73% and a return on equity of 14.20%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Independent Bank will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Independent Bank

Independent Bank Corporation (NASDAQ: IBCP) is a bank holding company headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Through its primary subsidiary, Independent Bank, the company offers a full range of commercial and personal banking services designed to meet the needs of individuals, small businesses and corporate clients. The company’s offerings span traditional branch-based banking as well as digital and mobile platforms.

Independent Bank provides deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit.