Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the three ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $78.00.

Several research firms recently commented on INDB. StockNews.com cut Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Independent Bank from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Independent Bank from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $74.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,917 shares of the bank’s stock worth $109,443,000 after acquiring an additional 186,680 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 25.2% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,701,156 shares of the bank’s stock worth $86,283,000 after purchasing an additional 342,201 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Independent Bank by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,017,400 shares of the bank’s stock worth $60,170,000 after buying an additional 8,987 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 4.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 523,659 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,964,000 after buying an additional 22,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 338,640 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,024,000 after buying an additional 126,791 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Independent Bank Price Performance

Independent Bank stock opened at $63.92 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90 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 0.22. Independent Bank has a 52-week low of $45.11 and a 52-week high of $77.23.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. Independent Bank had a net margin of 20.26% and a return on equity of 6.74%. The company had revenue of $250.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Independent Bank will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.57%.

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.