Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Independent Bank Corp. $INDB

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 240,943 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 17,785 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.48% of Independent Bank worth $16,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in INDB. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Independent Bank by 57.9% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,703,144 shares of the bank’s stock worth $107,102,000 after purchasing an additional 624,833 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Independent Bank in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,053,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 78.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 657,570 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,351,000 after buying an additional 289,590 shares during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in Independent Bank by 126.5% during the 2nd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 317,305 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,954,000 after buying an additional 177,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FJ Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Independent Bank by 26.4% during the second quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 649,320 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,832,000 after buying an additional 135,751 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

INDB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Independent Bank in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays downgraded shares of Independent Bank from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Independent Research set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Independent Bank in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Independent Bank currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.50.

Independent Bank Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of INDB stock opened at $85.18 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Independent Bank Corp. has a 12-month low of $52.15 and a 12-month high of $87.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.14 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $77.11 and its 200 day moving average is $71.68.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 17.51%.The firm had revenue of $253.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.64 million. Research analysts expect that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 29th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 29th. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is currently 53.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Independent Bank

In other Independent Bank news, Director Thomas R. Venables sold 405 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.93, for a total value of $29,941.65. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,519,779.01. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ken S. Ansin sold 53,000 shares of Independent Bank stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.06, for a total transaction of $3,660,180.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 53,738 shares in the company, valued at $3,711,146.28. This represents a 49.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 58,917 shares of company stock worth $4,115,033. 0.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.