Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Independent Bank Corp. $INDB

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 6.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 240,943 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 17,785 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $16,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Independent Bank by 1.5% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,705 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $680,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Independent Bank by 23.3% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,116 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,862 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Independent Bank by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,289 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,471,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Independent Bank by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,979 shares of the bank’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Independent Bank

In related news, Director Gerard F. Nadeau sold 3,000 shares of Independent Bank stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $210,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 22,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,567,650. This trade represents a 11.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas R. Venables sold 405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.93, for a total value of $29,941.65. Following the sale, the director owned 20,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,519,779.01. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,917 shares of company stock worth $4,115,033. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on INDB shares. Independent Research set a $80.00 price target on Independent Bank in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays downgraded Independent Bank from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Independent Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $83.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Independent Bank in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.50.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

NASDAQ INDB opened at $85.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Independent Bank Corp. has a 1-year low of $52.15 and a 1-year high of $87.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14 and a beta of 0.80.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 17.51%.The firm had revenue of $253.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $249.64 million. On average, research analysts predict that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 29th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 29th. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.03%.

Independent Bank Company Profile

Independent Bank Group, Inc (NASDAQ:INDB) is a bank holding company headquartered in McKinney, Texas, that provides a range of financial services through its wholly owned subsidiary, Independent Bank. Tracing its roots to the late 19th century, the company has grown from a single community bank into a regional financial institution serving individuals, small businesses and commercial clients. Independent Bank Group became a bank holding company in 1983 and expanded its footprint through organic growth and strategic acquisitions.

The company’s primary business activities encompass retail and commercial banking, including deposit products, consumer and business lending and credit services.