Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 808,500 shares, a growth of 22.1% from the October 31st total of 662,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 281,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on INDB shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Independent Bank from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Independent Bank currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.50.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

Shares of INDB traded up $0.28 on Monday, reaching $72.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 253,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 280,833. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.80 and a beta of 0.73. Independent Bank has a 12-month low of $45.11 and a 12-month high of $77.23.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. Independent Bank had a net margin of 20.26% and a return on equity of 6.74%. The business had revenue of $250.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Independent Bank will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.57%.

Institutional Trading of Independent Bank

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in INDB. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Independent Bank during the second quarter valued at about $73,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Independent Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Profund Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Independent Bank in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $229,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Independent Bank during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $257,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Independent Bank by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,378 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

About Independent Bank

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.