Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on VBTX. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Veritex from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Veritex in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Stephens lifted their target price on Veritex from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Veritex from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.40.

Veritex Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of VBTX opened at $27.08 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $25.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74 and a beta of 1.37. Veritex has a 1-year low of $16.84 and a 1-year high of $28.46.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Veritex had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The business had revenue of $113.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.22 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Veritex will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veritex

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Veritex in the first quarter valued at approximately $9,139,000. F M Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veritex in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,483,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Veritex by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 807,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,248,000 after purchasing an additional 325,569 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Veritex by 14.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,445,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,566,000 after purchasing an additional 299,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in Veritex by 16.4% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,668,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,193,000 after buying an additional 235,154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.31% of the company’s stock.

Veritex Company Profile

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.