Insider Selling: Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) Director Sells 8,000 Shares of Stock

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) Director Dennis Hudson III sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.34, for a total value of $250,720.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 236,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,423,004.36. This represents a 3.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida Trading Down 1.6%

SBCF traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $30.97. The stock had a trading volume of 557,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 715,483. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.36 and a beta of 0.92. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has a 52 week low of $21.36 and a 52 week high of $35.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $204.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.25 million. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida had a net margin of 15.47% and a return on equity of 7.07%. The company’s revenue was up 53.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SBCF. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,088,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $222,732,000 after purchasing an additional 705,554 shares during the period. North Reef Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 5,832,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $183,244,000 after purchasing an additional 837,075 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 58.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,482,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,825,000 after purchasing an additional 2,025,988 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,610,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $144,870,000 after buying an additional 64,986 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,098,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,284,000 after buying an additional 95,529 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.90.

About Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida operates as a bank holding company through its principal subsidiary, Seacoast National Bank. Headquartered in Stuart, Florida, Seacoast National Bank provides a full range of commercial and retail banking services across the coastal region of Florida. Its network of branches serves customers from Martin County through Miami-Dade County, offering deposit accounts, lending solutions, cash management and payment services to individuals, small businesses and middle-market companies.

In addition to traditional banking, Seacoast offers specialized mortgage lending and wealth management services.