Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.28

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be given a dividend of 0.28 per share by the bank on Friday, July 10th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. This is a 3.7% increase from Towne Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27.

Towne Bank has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Towne Bank has a dividend payout ratio of 31.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Towne Bank to earn $3.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.3%.

Towne Bank Stock Up 1.5%

Towne Bank stock opened at $34.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48 and a beta of 0.72. Towne Bank has a fifty-two week low of $31.91 and a fifty-two week high of $37.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $34.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.49.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The company had revenue of $247.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.02 million. Towne Bank had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 13.51%.Towne Bank’s revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Towne Bank will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on TOWN. Hovde Group lowered their target price on Towne Bank from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered Towne Bank from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research lowered Towne Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $38.00 target price (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 given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.