Independent Bank Co. (NASDAQ:IBCP) Short Interest Update

Independent Bank Co. (NASDAQ:IBCP) saw a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 188,700 shares, a growth of 36.0% from the February 13th total of 138,700 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 111,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independent Bank

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Independent Bank by 3,383.0% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,110,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $386,970,000 after acquiring an additional 10,791,263 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Independent Bank by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,218,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,448,000 after purchasing an additional 25,756 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Independent Bank by 7.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,034,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,510,000 after buying an additional 69,504 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Independent Bank by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 647,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,597,000 after buying an additional 29,475 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 523,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,237,000 after buying an additional 53,938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on IBCP. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Independent Bank from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $41.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Independent Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IBCP traded up $0.09 on Monday, reaching $31.00. 102,556 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 94,884. The stock has a market capitalization of $650.16 million, a PE ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company’s 50 day moving average is $34.13 and its 200-day moving average is $34.67. Independent Bank has a fifty-two week low of $22.53 and a fifty-two week high of $40.32.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:IBCP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.10. Independent Bank had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 15.43%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Independent Bank will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This is a positive change from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is presently 32.91%.

Independent Bank Company Profile

Independent Bank Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Independent Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in rural and suburban communities in Michigan. It offers checking and savings accounts, commercial lending, direct and indirect consumer financing, mortgage lending, and safe deposit box services.