TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) Trading Down 4.8% – What’s Next?

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN)’s stock price fell 4.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $32.07 and last traded at $32.33. 59,382 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 249,530 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of TowneBank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded TowneBank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th.

TowneBank Stock Down 5.8 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.89.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $174.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.20 million. TowneBank had a net margin of 15.33% and a return on equity of 7.56%. The company’s revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that TowneBank will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TowneBank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. TowneBank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.51%.

Institutional Trading of TowneBank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TOWN. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of TowneBank by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,269,588 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $116,431,000 after buying an additional 119,459 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of TowneBank by 0.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 784,909 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,404,000 after purchasing an additional 2,676 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of TowneBank by 1.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 638,241 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,405,000 after purchasing an additional 8,100 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of TowneBank by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 504,926 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,769,000 after purchasing an additional 21,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of TowneBank by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 196,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,524,000 after purchasing an additional 14,875 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.99% of the company’s stock.

About TowneBank

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.