Polaris Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Polaris Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 123.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,339 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Polaris Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $1,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Independent Bank by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,911 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Independent Bank by 364.9% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,213 shares of the bank’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Independent Bank in the 3rd quarter worth about $222,000. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC purchased a new stake in Independent Bank during the 4th quarter worth approximately $250,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Independent Bank during the 3rd quarter worth $257,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Independent Bank Stock Down 0.7 %

INDB stock opened at $69.28 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.45. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 0.77. Independent Bank Corp. has a 52 week low of $45.11 and a 52 week high of $77.23. 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 (NASDAQ:INDB) last announced 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 net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 6.57%. On average, research analysts expect that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Independent Bank from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.