Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $37.90 and last traded at $37.7530, with a volume of 745770 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TOWN has been the topic of several research reports. Hovde Group cut their price target on Towne Bank from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Towne Bank from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Towne Bank from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective (down from $42.00) on shares of Towne Bank in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Towne Bank has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.50.

Towne Bank Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 0.69.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $245.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.33 million. Towne Bank had a return on equity of 9.99% and a net margin of 25.64%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Towne Bank will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Towne Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from Towne Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 26th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Towne Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.46%.

Institutional Trading of Towne Bank

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TOWN. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Towne Bank by 931.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 753 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in Towne Bank during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Towne Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Towne Bank in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, CrossGen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Towne Bank during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. 55.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.