JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 439,346 Shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) by 182.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 680,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 439,346 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.80% of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida worth $18,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida by 154.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 1,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida by 57.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 1,960 shares during the period. 81.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SBCF shares. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective (up previously from $29.00) on shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida Price Performance

Shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida stock opened at $22.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida has a twelve month low of $21.36 and a twelve month high of $31.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.41.

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.15. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida had a return on equity of 5.91% and a net margin of 14.95%. As a group, research analysts expect that Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida’s payout ratio is 50.35%.

About Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida

Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of integrated financial services. It provides banking and investment services to businesses and consumers, including personal and business deposit products, Internet and mobile banking, personal, commercial and mortgage loans, wealth management services, and treasury management solutions.