Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $519,000 Stake in TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) by 16.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,188 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in TowneBank were worth $519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TOWN. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in TowneBank in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in TowneBank by 258.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,434 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of TowneBank by 807.8% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,971 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of TowneBank during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of TowneBank by 2,332.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,624 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 3,475 shares in the last quarter. 55.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of TowneBank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of TowneBank from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

TowneBank Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of TOWN stock opened at $33.25 on Monday. TowneBank has a 12-month low of $25.92 and a 12-month high of $38.28. The company has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.50.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.07. TowneBank had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The firm had revenue of $190.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.29 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that TowneBank will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

TowneBank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from TowneBank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. TowneBank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.76%.

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.