Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $26.94, but opened at $24.58. Veritex shares last traded at $25.91, with a volume of 115,291 shares traded.

The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.02). Veritex had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 7.79%.

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Veritex’s payout ratio is currently 51.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Veritex from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Veritex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Veritex from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Veritex from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three 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, Veritex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veritex news, Director John Sughrue sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.25, for a total value of $508,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,894,950.75. This trade represents a 21.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veritex

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sippican Capital Advisors lifted its position in shares of Veritex by 0.4% during the third quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 99,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,612,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Veritex by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Veritex by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 73,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,920,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd grew its stake in Veritex by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 5,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Veritex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.31% of the company’s stock.

Veritex Stock Down 0.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $28.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.33.

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.