TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $37.30 and last traded at $37.30, with a volume of 438 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $36.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on TOWN. StockNews.com upgraded TowneBank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of TowneBank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

TowneBank Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.28. The company has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 0.89.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $258.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.80 million. TowneBank had a net margin of 14.89% and a return on equity of 7.32%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that TowneBank will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

TowneBank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. TowneBank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.25%.

Institutional Trading of TowneBank

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in TowneBank by 2,100.3% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 21,519 shares of the bank’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 20,541 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in TowneBank by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 504,926 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,769,000 after buying an additional 21,143 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in TowneBank in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $516,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in TowneBank by 224.3% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 47,995 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 33,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in TowneBank during the 1st quarter worth $4,907,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.99% of the company’s stock.

About TowneBank

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.