American Century Companies Inc. Lowers Holdings in Towne Bank $TOWN

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 489,768 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 108,139 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.65% of Towne Bank worth $16,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TOWN. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Towne Bank by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 50,401 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after buying an additional 11,250 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank raised its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 0.6% in the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 51,733 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,788,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd boosted its holdings in Towne Bank by 142.0% in the third quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd now owns 22,727 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 13,337 shares during the period. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Towne Bank during the 3rd quarter worth $296,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Towne Bank by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,639,169 shares of the bank’s stock worth $264,086,000 after purchasing an additional 234,403 shares in the last quarter. 55.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Towne Bank Price Performance

TOWN stock opened at $33.56 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.75. Towne Bank has a twelve month low of $29.43 and a twelve month high of $37.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.66.

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

Towne Bank Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TOWN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Towne Bank in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research cut shares of Towne Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Towne Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

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.