Short Interest in TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) Increases By 33.5%

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 888,800 shares, an increase of 33.5% from the February 13th total of 665,900 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 230,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Institutional Trading of TowneBank

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in TowneBank in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of TowneBank during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of TowneBank by 258.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,434 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in TowneBank in the third quarter worth approximately $73,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in TowneBank by 807.8% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,971 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.99% of the company’s stock.

TowneBank Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of TOWN traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $34.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 240,120. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.80. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 0.88. TowneBank has a 1-year low of $25.70 and a 1-year high of $38.28.

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.07. TowneBank had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 7.77%. As a group, analysts forecast that TowneBank will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TowneBank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. TowneBank’s dividend payout ratio is 46.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of TowneBank in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

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.