Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) have been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the three research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $79.00.

INDB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective (up previously from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Independent Bank from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independent Bank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of INDB. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Independent Bank by 29.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,378 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Independent Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at $830,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 129.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 53,763 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,727,000 after purchasing an additional 30,351 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Independent Bank in the 2nd quarter worth $229,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 6.3% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 93,398 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,737,000 after purchasing an additional 5,519 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Independent Bank Stock Down 0.7 %

INDB stock opened at $66.98 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.92. Independent Bank has a twelve month low of $45.11 and a twelve month high of $77.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.82 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 0.23.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.05. Independent Bank had a net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 6.57%. On average, equities analysts predict that Independent Bank will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is 50.44%.

Independent Bank Company Profile

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.