Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet cut Independent Bank from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Independent Bank from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

INDB opened at $47.04 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $50.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.12. Independent Bank has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $68.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $167.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.80 million. Independent Bank had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 7.85%. Equities analysts expect that Independent Bank will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.85%. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of INDB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Independent Bank during the fourth quarter worth $32,784,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 902.8% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 268,315 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,730,000 after buying an additional 241,558 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,753,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,415,000 after purchasing an additional 164,254 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Independent Bank in the third quarter worth $4,663,000. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 518,119 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,097,000 after purchasing an additional 93,901 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Independent Bank

Independent Bank Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Rockland Trust Company that provides commercial banking products and services to individuals and small-to-medium sized businesses in the United States. The company provides interest checking, money market, and savings accounts, as well as demand deposits and time certificates of deposit.