TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) Upgraded at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $40.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their previous price target of $35.00.

Separately, StockNews.com raised TowneBank from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

TowneBank Stock Up 1.9 %

TOWN stock opened at $33.09 on Wednesday. TowneBank has a twelve month low of $21.63 and a twelve month high of $35.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.42.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $174.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.20 million. TowneBank had a net margin of 15.33% and a return on equity of 7.56%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that TowneBank will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

TowneBank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. TowneBank’s payout ratio is 49.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TowneBank

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TOWN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of TowneBank in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,851,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of TowneBank in the 1st quarter worth $4,907,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of TowneBank by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,269,588 shares of the bank’s stock worth $116,431,000 after buying an additional 119,459 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of TowneBank by 92.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 181,730 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,099,000 after buying an additional 87,332 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of TowneBank by 315.8% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 95,407 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,602,000 after acquiring an additional 72,464 shares in the last quarter. 55.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TowneBank Company Profile

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.