Bank of New York Mellon Corp Boosts Stake in Towne Bank $TOWN

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 504,694 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,489 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Towne Bank were worth $16,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Towne Bank by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,082,514 shares of the bank’s stock worth $269,713,000 after buying an additional 443,345 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Towne Bank by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,339,745 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $144,819,000 after purchasing an additional 17,143 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Towne Bank by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,138,398 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,931,000 after purchasing an additional 21,482 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Towne Bank by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,811,213 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,448,000 after purchasing an additional 12,672 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Towne Bank by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,515,187 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,562,000 after purchasing an additional 23,069 shares during the period. 55.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TOWN has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $38.00 target price (down from $42.00) on shares of Towne Bank in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Towne Bank from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Towne Bank from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Hovde Group dropped their price target on Towne Bank from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.50.

Towne Bank Price Performance

NASDAQ TOWN opened at $38.76 on Thursday. Towne Bank has a 52 week low of $31.91 and a 52 week high of $39.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.10.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $245.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $245.33 million. Towne Bank had a return on equity of 9.99% and a net margin of 25.64%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Towne Bank will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Towne Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from Towne Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 26th. Towne Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.46%.

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.