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

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 740,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,293,000 after acquiring an additional 192,577 shares during the period. State of Wyoming grew its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP grew its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 121.1% during the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 141,070 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,056,000 after acquiring an additional 77,254 shares during the period. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 29.1% during the 1st quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. now owns 93,009 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,674,000 after buying an additional 20,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors own 75.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 directly owned 12,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $366,260.31. This represents a 25.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

Amalgamated Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAL traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.58. 221,263 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 148,419. The company has a market capitalization of $830.43 million, a P/E ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 0.92. Amalgamated Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $25.03 and a 1 year high of $38.19. The company's 50-day moving average is $29.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.59. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $82.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.52 million. Amalgamated Financial had a net margin of 23.60% and a return on equity of 15.21%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Amalgamated Financial Corp. will post 3.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amalgamated Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.