Apella Capital LLC Acquires New Shares in Towne Bank $TOWN

Apella Capital LLC acquired a new position in Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 50,068 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,818,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TOWN. &PARTNERS lifted its stake in Towne Bank by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 10,428 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 21,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 0.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 68,857 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,354,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the period. Comerica Bank lifted its position in Towne Bank by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,219 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Towne Bank by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,596 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.99% of the company’s stock.

Towne Bank Stock Performance

Shares of TOWN opened at $36.36 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Towne Bank has a 52 week low of $31.91 and a 52 week high of $37.86. The stock has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36 and a beta of 0.70.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. The company had revenue of $247.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.02 million. Towne Bank had a return on equity of 9.91% and a net margin of 13.51%.The firm’s revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Towne Bank will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Towne Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 26th. This is an increase from Towne Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Towne Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TOWN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Hovde Group cut their target price on shares of Towne Bank from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research cut Towne Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Towne Bank from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (down from $42.00) on shares of Towne Bank in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.50.

Towne Bank Company Profile

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.