Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) is Heartland Advisors Inc.’s 9th Largest Position

Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 897,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,300 shares during the period. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida makes up about 1.3% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 1.05% of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida worth $24,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida by 154.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida during the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida by 57.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 1,960 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBCF has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target (up previously from $29.00) on shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida Stock Performance

Shares of SBCF stock opened at $26.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $27.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.68. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida has a one year low of $21.90 and a one year high of $31.68.

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.15. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida had a return on equity of 5.91% and a net margin of 14.95%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

About Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida

Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of integrated financial services. It provides banking and investment services to businesses and consumers, including personal and business deposit products, Internet and mobile banking, personal, commercial and mortgage loans, wealth management services, and treasury management solutions.