Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Shares in Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 55,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,841,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.18% of Amalgamated Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Amalgamated Financial by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,219,094 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,803,000 after buying an additional 31,647 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Amalgamated Financial by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 502,848 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,830,000 after buying an additional 17,410 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Amalgamated Financial by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 480,846 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,098,000 after buying an additional 1,958 shares during the last quarter. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in Amalgamated Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $13,093,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in Amalgamated Financial by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 322,833 shares of the company's stock worth $10,805,000 after purchasing an additional 68,381 shares during the period. 75.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Amalgamated Financial news, EVP Sean Searby sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.49, for a total value of $97,470.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $573,091.11. The trade was a 14.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tyrone Graham sold 869 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $25,835.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,580 shares of the company's stock, valued at $314,543.40. This represents a 7.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,926 shares of company stock valued at $243,070. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amalgamated Financial Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of AMAL stock traded down $0.28 on Monday, reaching $30.34. 58,103 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 187,812. The stock has a market cap of $928.10 million, a P/E ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.37. Amalgamated Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $24.02 and a 1-year high of $38.19.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.88. The company had revenue of $79.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.78 million. Amalgamated Financial had a net margin of 24.50% and a return on equity of 16.49%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Amalgamated Financial Corp. will post 3.65 EPS for the current year.

Amalgamated Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Amalgamated Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be 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 is Tuesday, May 6th. Amalgamated Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AMAL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Amalgamated Financial from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Amalgamated Financial from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

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.