Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) Short Interest Update

Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,690,000 shares, an increase of 23.4% from the November 15th total of 1,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 393,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Veritex Stock Performance

NASDAQ VBTX opened at $29.64 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.85. Veritex has a 12-month low of $18.08 and a 12-month high of $31.62. The company has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 1.38.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.04. Veritex had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 7.79%. The firm had revenue of $113.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.22 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Veritex will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.28%.

Insider Activity at Veritex

In other news, CEO C Malcolm Holland III sold 12,777 shares of Veritex stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.69, for a total transaction of $353,795.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 224,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,206,215.08. This trade represents a 5.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Sughrue sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.25, for a total transaction of $508,805.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 62,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,894,950.75. The trade was a 21.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VBTX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Veritex in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Veritex by 1,302.9% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 3,101 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new position in shares of Veritex during the third quarter valued at about $98,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd boosted its holdings in Veritex by 16.5% during the second quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 5,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its position in Veritex by 295.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 7,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 5,559 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VBTX shares. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Veritex from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised Veritex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Veritex from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James raised Veritex from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Veritex from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.40.

About Veritex

Veritex Holdings, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Veritex Community Bank that provides various commercial banking products and services to small and medium-sized businesses, and professionals. The company accepts deposit products include demand, savings, money market, and time accounts. Its loan products include commercial real estate and general commercial, mortgage warehouse loans, residential real estate, construction and land, farmland, paycheck protection program, 1-4 family residential, agricultural, multi-family residential, and consumer loans, as well as purchased receivables financing.