Alliancebernstein L.P. Boosts Stake in Amalgamated Financial Corp. $AMAL

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. significantly increased its holdings in Amalgamated Financial Corp. by acquiring an additional 725,695 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 2.51% of the company, valued at about $22.06 million.
• Piper Sandler downgraded Amalgamated Financial from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating, reducing the target price from $34.00 to $27.00, highlighting a cautious outlook from analysts.
• Amalgamated Financial declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.0% based on a payout ratio of 16.77%.

Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL - Free Report) by 1,738.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 767,438 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 725,695 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 2.51% of Amalgamated Financial worth $22,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $51,000. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 12.9% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,343 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 23.3% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. 75.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amalgamated Financial Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Amalgamated Financial stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $28.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 116,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 148,883. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Amalgamated Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $25.03 and a 52 week high of $38.19. The stock has a market cap of $858.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.65.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.02). Amalgamated Financial had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 23.60%.The business had revenue of $82.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.52 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amalgamated Financial Corp. will post 3.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amalgamated Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Amalgamated Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amalgamated Financial

In other news, EVP Sean Searby sold 4,106 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.77, for a total transaction of $122,235.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $366,260.31. This represents a 25.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Piper Sandler cut shares of Amalgamated Financial from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amalgamated Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.00.

Amalgamated Financial Company Profile

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.