Millennium Management LLC Increases Stake in TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN)

Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) by 1,265.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 243,773 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 225,921 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.33% of TowneBank worth $8,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TOWN. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in TowneBank by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 40,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in TowneBank by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 167,113 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,692,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in TowneBank by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 787,667 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,827,000 after buying an additional 46,678 shares in the last quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of TowneBank in the fourth quarter worth about $9,908,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of TowneBank by 50.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 59,621 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,031,000 after buying an additional 20,031 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.99% of the company’s stock.

TowneBank Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of TowneBank stock opened at $33.93 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.67. TowneBank has a 52 week low of $25.70 and a 52 week high of $38.28.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.07. TowneBank had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 15.77%. The company had revenue of $190.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $191.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that TowneBank will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

TowneBank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from TowneBank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. TowneBank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on TOWN shares. Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of TowneBank from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of TowneBank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday.

TowneBank Profile

TowneBank provides retail and commercial banking services for individuals, commercial enterprises, and professionals. The company operates through three segments: Banking, Realty, and Insurance. It accepts various deposits, including demand deposits, savings accounts, money rate savings, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts.