JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 59,770 Shares of Towne Bank $TOWN

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) by 22.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 330,937 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 59,770 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.44% of Towne Bank worth $11,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A increased its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 1,020.2% in the third quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 205,116 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,091,000 after purchasing an additional 186,805 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Towne Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,068,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Towne Bank by 617.1% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 70,831 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,421,000 after buying an additional 60,953 shares during the period. Arbor Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Towne Bank in the 3rd quarter worth $604,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in Towne Bank in the 2nd quarter worth $362,000. Institutional investors own 55.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Towne Bank in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research downgraded Towne Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.00.

Towne Bank Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of TOWN opened at $33.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 0.75. Towne Bank has a 1 year low of $29.43 and a 1 year high of $37.86. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.74.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $221.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.43 million. Towne Bank had a return on equity of 10.11% and a net margin of 15.12%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Towne Bank will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Towne Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Towne Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.09%.

About Towne Bank

TowneBank is a Virginia‐based financial services company organized as a bank holding company. Its primary subsidiary, TowneBank, operates a network of community banking offices and mortgage production facilities. The company offers a comprehensive range of commercial and consumer banking solutions, including deposit accounts, lending products, treasury management, and private banking services tailored to individuals, small businesses, and middle‐market corporations.

In addition to traditional banking, TowneBank provides specialty services through affiliated subsidiaries.