Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) Stock Now Rated “Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the seven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $91.86.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on INDB shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Independent Bank in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Independent Bank from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas R. Venables sold 3,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total transaction of $311,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,867. This trade represents a 17.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerard Nadeau sold 5,307 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.69, for a total transaction of $449,449.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,431,853.83. The trade was a 23.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Independent Bank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Independent Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $584,333,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Independent Bank in the second quarter worth approximately $44,640,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Independent Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,268,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Independent Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,278,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Independent Bank during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,297,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Independent Bank Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:INDB traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.75. 36,277 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 355,977. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Independent Bank has a fifty-two week low of $63.33 and a fifty-two week high of $87.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.04.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $253.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $257.50 million. Independent Bank had a net margin of 20.31% and a return on equity of 9.19%. As a group, research analysts expect that Independent Bank will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Monday, September 28th were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 28th. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.21%.

About Independent Bank

Independent Bank Corp. is the bank holding company for Rockland Trust Company, a full-service community bank headquartered in Rockland, Massachusetts. Through Rockland Trust, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses, nonprofits and municipalities.

Its products and services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial lending, home equity loans, mortgages, cash management, online and mobile banking, and other treasury management solutions.