TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) Short Interest Up 29.6% in December

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 620,200 shares, an increase of 29.6% from the November 30th total of 478,400 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 245,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

TowneBank Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:TOWN traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $34.42. 233,262 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 255,180. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30 and a beta of 0.91. TowneBank has a fifty-two week low of $25.70 and a fifty-two week high of $38.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.77.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $258.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $179.80 million. TowneBank had a return on equity of 7.32% and a net margin of 14.89%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that TowneBank will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

TowneBank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. TowneBank’s payout ratio is presently 50.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of TowneBank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TOWN. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in TowneBank during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $73,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in TowneBank during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $73,000. KBC Group NV bought a new position in shares of TowneBank in the 3rd quarter valued at $100,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of TowneBank by 137.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in TowneBank during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $205,000. Institutional investors 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.