Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) Shares Up 5.5% Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) rose 5.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $67.80 and last traded at $67.44. Approximately 79,403 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 214,956 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.92.

The bank reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.05. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 6.74% and a net margin of 20.26%.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

INDB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James raised shares of Independent Bank from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Independent Bank from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Independent Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Independent Bank by 364.9% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,213 shares of the bank’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Independent Bank in the third quarter valued at about $222,000. Profund Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Independent Bank during the second quarter worth about $229,000. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC acquired a new position in Independent Bank during the fourth quarter worth about $250,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Independent Bank in the third quarter valued at about $257,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

About Independent Bank

Independent Bank Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Rockland Trust Company that provides commercial banking products and services to individuals and small-to-medium sized businesses in the United States. The company provides interest checking, money market, and savings accounts, as well as demand deposits and time certificates of deposit.