Everence Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,640 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Independent Bank during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,441,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 99,981 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,580,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,677 shares of the bank’s stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 518,119 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,097,000 after purchasing an additional 93,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 4,989 shares of the bank’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Independent Bank

In other Independent Bank news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.83, for a total transaction of $42,264.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $614,941.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

INDB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TheStreet cut Independent Bank from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Independent Bank from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd.

Independent Bank Price Performance

Shares of INDB opened at $49.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $51.03 and its 200 day moving average is $54.85. Independent Bank Corp. has a 12-month low of $43.28 and a 12-month high of $68.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.83.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The bank reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.01. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 26.02%. The business had revenue of $177.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.75 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. This is a boost from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.61%. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.07%.

About Independent Bank

Independent Bank Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Rockland Trust Company that provides commercial banking products and services to individuals and small-to-medium sized businesses in the United States. The company provides interest checking, money market, and savings accounts, as well as demand deposits and time certificates of deposit.