Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) Short Interest Update

Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 721,200 shares, a decline of 10.8% from the March 15th total of 808,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 295,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Independent Bank news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.83, for a total transaction of $42,264.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $614,941.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independent Bank

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 7.9% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,854 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 44.4% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 543 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Independent Bank by 1.3% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,404 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Independent Bank by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 7,596 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBW Capital LLC boosted its position in Independent Bank by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 35,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,015,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on INDB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Independent Bank from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. TheStreet lowered shares of Independent Bank from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

NASDAQ INDB opened at $48.64 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.97 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Independent Bank has a 12-month low of $43.28 and a 12-month high of $68.75.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The bank reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.01. Independent Bank had a net margin of 26.02% and a return on equity of 8.35%. The company had revenue of $177.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.75 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Independent Bank will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a boost from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.69%. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is presently 42.07%.

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.