Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases 11,199 Shares of Independent Bank Corp. $INDB

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its position in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 329,495 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,199 shares during the quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned about 0.66% of Independent Bank worth $24,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Independent Bank by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 51,295 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,745,000 after purchasing an additional 5,642 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in shares of Independent Bank by 109.7% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 206,773 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,111,000 after buying an additional 108,187 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Independent Bank by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 594,258 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,428,000 after buying an additional 3,894 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Independent Bank in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $675,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Independent Bank by 49.1% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 58,230 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,255,000 after buying an additional 19,171 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Independent Bank news, Director Joseph C. Lerner sold 2,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.31, for a total transaction of $218,941.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,215 shares in the company, valued at $1,253,581.65. The trade was a 14.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on INDB. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Independent Bank in a research report on Friday, May 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Independent Bank from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $97.00 price target on shares of Independent Bank in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Independent Bank in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.71.

Independent Bank Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of INDB opened at $83.27 on Friday. Independent Bank Corp. has a one year low of $57.01 and a one year high of $87.00. The company has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.75.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.02). Independent Bank had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The firm had revenue of $252.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Independent Bank Corp. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th were given a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is an increase from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.79%.

Independent Bank Profile

Independent Bank Group, Inc (NASDAQ:INDB) is a bank holding company headquartered in McKinney, Texas, that provides a range of financial services through its wholly owned subsidiary, Independent Bank. Tracing its roots to the late 19th century, the company has grown from a single community bank into a regional financial institution serving individuals, small businesses and commercial clients. Independent Bank Group became a bank holding company in 1983 and expanded its footprint through organic growth and strategic acquisitions.

The company’s primary business activities encompass retail and commercial banking, including deposit products, consumer and business lending and credit services.