TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) Short Interest Update

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 638,700 shares, a drop of 19.1% from the January 15th total of 789,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 246,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Institutional Trading of TowneBank

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TOWN. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in TowneBank by 7,668.0% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,974,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,949,448 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in TowneBank in the fourth quarter worth about $22,894,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in TowneBank in the fourth quarter worth about $14,122,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in TowneBank by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344,673 shares of the bank’s stock worth $147,980,000 after acquiring an additional 210,521 shares during the period. Finally, Lightrock Netherlands B.V. bought a new stake in TowneBank in the fourth quarter worth about $6,746,000. Institutional investors own 55.99% of the company’s stock.

TowneBank Price Performance

TOWN opened at $36.84 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $35.09 and its 200 day moving average is $34.33. TowneBank has a fifty-two week low of $25.70 and a fifty-two week high of $38.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.13 and a beta of 0.93.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.07. TowneBank had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 7.77%. On average, equities research analysts expect that TowneBank will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

TowneBank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. TowneBank’s dividend payout ratio is 46.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of TowneBank in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

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.