First Western Trust Bank Acquires 745 Shares of TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN)

First Western Trust Bank increased its holdings in shares of TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,123 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in TowneBank were worth $599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of TowneBank by 7,668.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,974,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,448 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in TowneBank during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,907,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in TowneBank by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,269,588 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $116,431,000 after buying an additional 119,459 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in TowneBank by 92.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 181,730 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,099,000 after acquiring an additional 87,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of TowneBank by 315.8% during the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 95,407 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,602,000 after acquiring an additional 72,464 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TOWN has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded TowneBank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded TowneBank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

TowneBank Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TOWN opened at $35.21 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.99. TowneBank has a one year low of $25.70 and a one year high of $36.67. The firm has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 0.89.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $258.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.80 million. TowneBank had a net margin of 14.89% and a return on equity of 7.41%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that TowneBank will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TowneBank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders 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%.

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.