Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) Stock

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $65.00 to $77.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 7.50% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on INDB. Raymond James upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Independent Bank has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.50.

Independent Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ INDB traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $71.63. 29,766 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 279,267. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Independent Bank has a 1 year low of $45.11 and a 1 year high of $77.23. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50-day moving average is $65.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.07.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $250.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Independent Bank will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Independent Bank

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Independent Bank by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,917 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,443,000 after acquiring an additional 186,680 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 25.2% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,701,156 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $86,283,000 after buying an additional 342,201 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,017,400 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,170,000 after buying an additional 8,987 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 14.3% during the second quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 737,477 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,405,000 after buying an additional 92,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 4.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 523,659 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,964,000 after buying an additional 22,919 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.