Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $32.09 and last traded at $31.61, with a volume of 144485 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.40.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company’s fifty day moving average is $29.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23 and a beta of 0.98.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.10. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida had a net margin of 16.63% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The firm had revenue of $151.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBCF. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 18,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 3,213 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 929,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,595,000 after acquiring an additional 55,930 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its stake in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 37,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 946 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida in the fourth quarter worth $212,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.77% of the company’s stock.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida Company Profile

Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of integrated financial services. It provides banking and investment services to businesses and consumers, including personal and business deposit products, Internet and mobile banking, personal, commercial and mortgage loans, wealth management services, and treasury management solutions.