TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.25 Per Share

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 24th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the bank on Friday, July 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 29th. This is an increase from TowneBank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23.

TowneBank has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.3% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 11 years. TowneBank has a dividend payout ratio of 40.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect TowneBank to earn $2.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.7%.

TowneBank Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ TOWN opened at $23.37 on Friday. TowneBank has a 52-week low of $21.22 and a 52-week high of $33.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.55 and a 200-day moving average of $28.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The bank reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $224.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.79 million. TowneBank had a net margin of 22.91% and a return on equity of 10.04%. On average, analysts anticipate that TowneBank will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TowneBank

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of TowneBank by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 24,015 shares of the bank’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of TowneBank by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,822 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $827,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of TowneBank by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,254 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of TowneBank by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 186,470 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,583,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of TowneBank by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,692 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TOWN has been the topic of several recent research reports. 22nd Century Group restated a “maintains” rating on shares of TowneBank in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of TowneBank from $31.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of TowneBank in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of TowneBank from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of TowneBank from $34.00 to $28.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

About TowneBank

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TowneBank engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking services to individuals and small and medium size businesses. It operates through the following segments: Banking, Realty, and Insurance. The Banking segment offers loan and deposit services to retail and commercial customers. The Realty segment focuses on the provision of residential real estate services and originations of a variety of mortgage loans.