Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 13,062 Shares of TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) by 6.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 225,242 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 13,062 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in TowneBank were worth $7,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of TowneBank by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,408 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in TowneBank by 1.9% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 31,187 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $850,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of TowneBank by 6.8% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,753 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TowneBank by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,617 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of TowneBank by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 135,208 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,687,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on TOWN shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of TowneBank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded TowneBank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

TowneBank Stock Performance

Shares of TOWN stock opened at $35.21 on Friday. TowneBank has a fifty-two week low of $25.70 and a fifty-two week high of $36.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.96.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. TowneBank had a net margin of 14.89% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The company had revenue of $258.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that TowneBank will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

TowneBank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. TowneBank’s payout ratio is 50.25%.

TowneBank Company 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.