TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) Short Interest Up 29.6% in December

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 620,200 shares, a growth of 29.6% from the November 30th total of 478,400 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 245,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of TowneBank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TowneBank

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of TowneBank by 2.9% in the second 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 last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP raised its position in shares of TowneBank by 192.3% in the third quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 116,625 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,856,000 after buying an additional 76,731 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of TowneBank by 315.8% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 95,407 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,602,000 after buying an additional 72,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in TowneBank by 90.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 143,914 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,758,000 after acquiring an additional 68,479 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.99% of the company’s stock.

TowneBank Price Performance

TOWN stock traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $34.42. 233,262 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,180. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $35.14 and its 200 day moving average is $32.81. TowneBank has a 12-month low of $25.70 and a 12-month high of $38.28. The company has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30 and a beta of 0.91.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last posted 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 business had revenue of $258.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that TowneBank will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TowneBank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. TowneBank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.