Independent Bank Corp. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.57 (NASDAQ:INDB)

Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 16th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a dividend of 0.57 per share by the bank on Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th.

Independent Bank has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Independent Bank has a dividend payout ratio of 44.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Independent Bank to earn $5.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.3%.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

NASDAQ:INDB traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $71.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 223,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,655. The business's fifty day moving average is $67.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.18. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 0.76. 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.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $250.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $173.24 million. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 6.74% and a net margin of 20.26%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Independent Bank will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Independent Bank from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $74.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Independent Bank from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.00.

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.