Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases Shares of 137,646 Independent Bank Corp. $INDB

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 137,646 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $11,524,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in INDB. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Independent Bank during the second quarter valued at $584,333,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Independent Bank by 57.9% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,703,144 shares of the bank’s stock worth $107,102,000 after buying an additional 624,833 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Independent Bank by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,467 shares of the bank’s stock worth $90,082,000 after acquiring an additional 20,278 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in Independent Bank by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 946,006 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,435,000 after acquiring an additional 141,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 810,155 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,206,000 after acquiring an additional 120,362 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Independent Bank

In other Independent Bank news, Director Gerard F. Nadeau sold 5,307 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.69, for a total value of $449,449.83. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,431,853.83. This represents a 23.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas R. Venables sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total transaction of $311,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,464,867. The trade was a 17.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on INDB shares. Hovde Group initiated coverage on Independent Bank in a research report on Friday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Independent Bank from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Independent Research set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Independent Bank in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Independent Bank from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Independent Bank in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.86.

Independent Bank Stock Down 0.5%

INDB opened at $82.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 14.94 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Independent Bank Corp. has a 52 week low of $63.33 and a 52 week high of $87.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.68.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Independent Bank had a net margin of 20.31% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The firm had revenue of $253.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $257.50 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Independent Bank Corp. will post 7.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th were given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 46.21%.

About Independent Bank

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.