StockNews.com Downgrades Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) to Sell

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

INDB has been the subject of several other reports. TheStreet cut shares of Independent Bank from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Independent Bank from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

Shares of INDB stock opened at $48.97 on Tuesday. Independent Bank has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $68.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.03). Independent Bank had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $167.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $171.80 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Independent Bank will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Independent Bank

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Independent Bank by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,272,986 shares of the bank’s stock worth $347,015,000 after acquiring an additional 69,312 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Independent Bank by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,753,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,415,000 after buying an additional 164,254 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Independent Bank by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 677,367 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,252,000 after buying an additional 3,359 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 518,119 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,097,000 after acquiring an additional 93,901 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Independent Bank by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 509,236 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,513,000 after purchasing an additional 25,664 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.