Towne Bank’s (TOWN) “Market Perform” Rating Reiterated at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued their market perform rating on shares of Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $38.00 price target on the bank’s stock, down from their previous price target of $42.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Towne Bank in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research downgraded Towne Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Hovde Group reduced their price target on Towne Bank from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Towne Bank currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.50.

Towne Bank Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ TOWN opened at $34.99 on Wednesday. Towne Bank has a 1-year low of $31.91 and a 1-year high of $37.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $34.36 and a 200-day moving average of $34.42. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67 and a beta of 0.72.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. Towne Bank had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 13.51%.The company had revenue of $247.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.02 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. Towne Bank’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Towne Bank will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Towne Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. Towne Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 54.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Towne Bank by 1,674.1% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,453 shares of the bank’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 4,202 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Towne Bank by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,399,012 shares of the bank’s stock worth $148,114,000 after acquiring an additional 59,267 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Towne Bank by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 172,915 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,822,000 after acquiring an additional 21,000 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Towne Bank by 99.1% during the 1st quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 6,969 shares of the bank’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 3,468 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Towne Bank during the 1st quarter worth approximately $51,116,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.99% of the company’s stock.

Towne Bank Company Profile

TowneBank is a Virginia?based financial services company organized as a bank holding company. Its primary subsidiary, TowneBank, operates a network of community banking offices and mortgage production facilities. The company offers a comprehensive range of commercial and consumer banking solutions, including deposit accounts, lending products, treasury management, and private banking services tailored to individuals, small businesses, and middle?market corporations.

In addition to traditional banking, TowneBank provides specialty services through affiliated subsidiaries.