Bessemer Group Inc. Raises Stake in Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN)

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) by 137.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,121 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,960 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Towne Bank were worth $175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Towne Bank by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 17,067 shares of the bank’s stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Towne Bank by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,354 shares of the bank’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Towne Bank by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 28,200 shares of the bank’s stock worth $964,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Towne Bank by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 167,173 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,694,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Towne Bank by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 109,607 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,733,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. 55.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Towne Bank from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Towne Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th.

Towne Bank Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:TOWN opened at $35.41 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 0.80. Towne Bank has a twelve month low of $26.62 and a twelve month high of $38.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.25.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $190.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.29 million. Towne Bank had a net margin of 17.15% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Towne Bank will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Towne Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. This is a boost from Towne Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Towne Bank’s payout ratio is presently 45.76%.

Towne Bank Profile

TowneBank provides retail and commercial banking services for individuals, commercial enterprises, and professionals. The company operates through three segments: Banking, Realty, and Insurance. It accepts various deposits, including demand deposits, savings accounts, money rate savings, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts.