Independent Bank (NASDAQ:IBCP) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Independent Bank Co. (NASDAQ:IBCP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $39.52 and last traded at $39.52, with a volume of 2301 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $38.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on IBCP. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Independent Bank from $27.00 to $37.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Independent Bank Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $797.11 million, a PE ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $33.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:IBCP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.11). Independent Bank had a net margin of 19.93% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The firm had revenue of $77.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Independent Bank Co. will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Independent Bank news, Director Christina Keller sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.85, for a total transaction of $45,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $136,754.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 5.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Independent Bank

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Independent Bank in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Independent Bank by 8.4% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 14,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Independent Bank by 36.0% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in Independent Bank by 8.8% in the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 17,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Independent Bank by 2.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 53,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 1,438 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

About Independent Bank

Independent Bank Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Independent Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in rural and suburban communities in Michigan. It offers checking and savings accounts, commercial lending, direct and indirect consumer financing, mortgage lending, and safe deposit box services.