Legato Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Legato Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,274 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 992 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $1,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 338,640 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,024,000 after purchasing an additional 126,791 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Independent Bank by 1,697.7% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 132,435 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,831,000 after buying an additional 125,068 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Independent Bank in the third quarter worth about $5,802,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 172.4% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 138,146 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,169,000 after acquiring an additional 87,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Independent Bank during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,586,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Independent Bank

In other news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total transaction of $44,819.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,516 shares in the company, valued at $876,495.48. The trade was a 4.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Independent Bank Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Independent Bank stock opened at $68.75 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Independent Bank Corp. has a twelve month low of $45.11 and a twelve month high of $77.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $66.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.54.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.05. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 6.57% and a net margin of 19.58%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is 50.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on INDB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Independent Bank from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $78.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Independent Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.00.

Independent Bank Company Profile

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.