Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,180,000 shares, an increase of 22.6% from the January 31st total of 962,800 shares. Approximately 6.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 199,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Amalgamated Financial Stock Down 1.2 %

AMAL stock opened at $30.31 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Amalgamated Financial has a 52 week low of $21.33 and a 52 week high of $38.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $929.58 million, a PE ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.30 and a 200 day moving average of $33.73.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. Amalgamated Financial had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 24.50%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amalgamated Financial will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Amalgamated Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a boost from Amalgamated Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Amalgamated Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AMAL shares. Piper Sandler cut shares of Amalgamated Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Amalgamated Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sean Searby sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.49, for a total transaction of $97,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,639 shares in the company, valued at $573,091.11. This represents a 14.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder States Regional Joint Western sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $616,860.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,167,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,641,054.32. The trade was a 0.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,730 shares of company stock valued at $908,522 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAL. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in Amalgamated Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 28.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the period. 75.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Amalgamated Financial

Amalgamated Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Amalgamated Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, investment management, and trust and custody services for commercial and retail customers in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, including non-interest bearing accounts, interest-bearing demand products, savings accounts, money market accounts, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit.