Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Independent Bank Stock Performance

INDB stock opened at $48.47 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.90. Independent Bank has a fifty-two week low of $43.28 and a fifty-two week high of $68.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This is an increase from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.70%. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Independent Bank news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.83, for a total value of $42,264.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,640 shares in the company, valued at $614,941.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of INDB. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Independent Bank by 80.6% in the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,661,215 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,549,000 after buying an additional 741,609 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Independent Bank by 251.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 961,843 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,208,000 after purchasing an additional 688,062 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Independent Bank in the 4th quarter worth $32,784,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Independent Bank during the third quarter worth $14,825,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 902.8% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 268,315 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,730,000 after buying an additional 241,558 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

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.