Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Buys New Shares in Veritex Holdings, Inc. $VBTX

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Veritex Holdings, acquiring 38,225 shares valued at approximately $954,000, according to its filing with the SEC.
• Insider trading activity was noted, with Director Fallon William selling 7,220 shares, and EVP Angela Harper selling 47,716 shares, indicating significant changes in ownership by executives.
• Veritex announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22, representing an annualized dividend of $0.88, and has a current payout ratio of 41.90%.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 38,225 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $954,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.07% of Veritex as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VBTX. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Veritex by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 34,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $944,000 after purchasing an additional 9,559 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Veritex by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 53,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veritex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,974,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Veritex by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 123,585 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,356,000 after purchasing an additional 5,976 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Veritex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,057,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.31% of the company's stock.

Veritex Stock Up 4.3%

NASDAQ:VBTX traded up $1.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,521,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 743,121. The stock has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 1.08. The business's 50 day moving average is $29.64 and its 200 day moving average is $26.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.37 and a fifty-two week high of $33.69.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $109.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.91 million. Veritex had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 7.55%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 7th. Veritex's payout ratio is currently 41.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John Sughrue sold 5,669 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $181,408.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 50,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,620,864. The trade was a 10.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fallon William sold 7,220 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.68, for a total transaction of $221,509.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,379.88. The trade was a 33.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 320,699 shares of company stock valued at $10,361,627. 4.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VBTX shares. William Blair upgraded Veritex to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $34.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of Veritex in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Veritex from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Veritex from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Veritex in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.25.

Veritex Company Profile

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.