22,000 Shares in Independent Bank Corp. $INDB Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 22,000 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,655,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in INDB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,606,415 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $180,286,000 after acquiring an additional 250,651 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Independent Bank by 57.9% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,703,144 shares of the bank’s stock worth $107,102,000 after purchasing an additional 624,833 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in Independent Bank by 84.1% during the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 1,261,622 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,199,000 after purchasing an additional 576,183 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Independent Bank by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,467 shares of the bank’s stock worth $90,082,000 after purchasing an additional 20,278 shares during the period. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,046,475 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,476,000 after purchasing an additional 13,935 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Independent Bank news, Director Joseph C. Lerner sold 2,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.31, for a total transaction of $218,941.92. Following the sale, the director owned 16,215 shares in the company, valued at $1,253,581.65. This represents a 14.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Independent Bank Price Performance

INDB opened at $85.00 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.62. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87 and a beta of 0.77. Independent Bank Corp. has a twelve month low of $61.55 and a twelve month high of $87.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $252.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.45 million. Independent Bank had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 8.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Independent Bank Corp. will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is currently 50.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

INDB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Independent Bank from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Hovde Group started coverage on Independent Bank in a research note on Friday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Independent Research set a $95.00 price objective on Independent Bank in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on Independent Bank from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $97.00 price target on shares of Independent Bank in a research report on Friday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.57.

Independent Bank 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.