Investors are on the edge of their collective seats, hoping that Independent Bank (Nasdaq: INDB) will top analyst expectations for the third consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, July 14. Independent Bank is a bank holding company which, through its subsidiary bank, is engaged in commercial banking, retail banking, investment management services, retail investments, and insurance sales.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Independent Bank with analysts unanimously rating it hold. Analysts don't like Independent Bank as much as competitor Boston Private Financial Holdings overall. Two out of eight analysts rate Boston Private Financial Holdings a buy compared to zero of six for Independent Bank. That rating hasn't budged in three months as analysts have remained steadfast in their opinion of the stock.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $55.4 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 6.3% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.54 per share. Estimates range from $0.52 to $0.57.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are split on INDB, with 50% rating it an "outperform" and 50% giving it an "underperform" rating. Fools Independent Bank, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 14 posts in the past 30 days. Independent Bank's bearish CAPS rating of one out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
Independent Bank's profit has risen year over year by an average of more than fourfold. Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows net margins over the past four quarters. 

Quarter Q1 Q4 Q3 Q2
Net Margin 18.2% 18.5% 17.9% 12.9%

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