Lightrock Netherlands B.V. Raises Stake in Towne Bank $TOWN

Lightrock Netherlands B.V. lifted its stake in Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) by 9.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 308,752 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,000 shares during the period. Towne Bank comprises about 2.4% of Lightrock Netherlands B.V.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. owned 0.41% of Towne Bank worth $10,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Towne Bank by 2,646.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,218,786 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,658,000 after buying an additional 1,174,406 shares during the period. FJ Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Towne Bank during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,296,000. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A raised its stake in shares of Towne Bank by 1,020.2% during the third quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 205,116 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,091,000 after acquiring an additional 186,805 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Towne Bank by 1,220.9% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 157,411 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,382,000 after purchasing an additional 145,494 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Towne Bank by 56.6% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 381,761 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,052,000 after purchasing an additional 137,988 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on TOWN. Wall Street Zen upgraded Towne Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, October 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Towne Bank in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

Towne Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TOWN opened at $35.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.29 and a 200 day moving average of $34.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 0.78. Towne Bank has a 52 week low of $29.43 and a 52 week high of $38.01.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $215.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $222.28 million. Towne Bank had a return on equity of 9.64% and a net margin of 15.69%.During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Towne Bank will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Towne Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Towne Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.21%.

About Towne Bank

TowneBank is a Virginia‐based financial services company organized as a bank holding company. Its primary subsidiary, TowneBank, operates a network of community banking offices and mortgage production facilities. The company offers a comprehensive range of commercial and consumer banking solutions, including deposit accounts, lending products, treasury management, and private banking services tailored to individuals, small businesses, and middle‐market corporations.

In addition to traditional banking, TowneBank provides specialty services through affiliated subsidiaries.