Empowered Funds LLC Has $5.59 Million Holdings in Veritex Holdings, Inc. $VBTX

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Veritex Holdings, Inc. by 29.3%, purchasing an additional 50,711 shares during the first quarter, totaling 224,034 shares valued at approximately $5.6 million.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $33.25 for Veritex stock, with ratings including five "buy" and three "hold" recommendations from various firms.
• In related insider transactions, CEO C. Malcolm Holland III sold 125,762 shares for over $4 million, significantly reducing his ownership by nearly 30%.

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) by 29.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 224,034 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 50,711 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.41% of Veritex worth $5,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Veritex in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Veritex by 327.6% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 6,534 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,006 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Veritex by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 8,884 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 4,271 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new position in Veritex in the 1st quarter worth $227,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in Veritex during the 4th quarter worth about $256,000. 88.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity at Veritex

In related news, Director Arcilia Acosta sold 7,279 shares of Veritex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.14, for a total transaction of $233,947.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 54,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,765,546.62. The trade was a 11.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Fallon William sold 7,220 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 14,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,379.88. This trade represents a 33.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 320,699 shares of company stock worth $10,361,627 in the last quarter. 4.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Veritex Stock Performance

NASDAQ VBTX traded down $0.28 during trading on Monday, reaching $34.12. 1,124,938 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 598,615. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25 and a beta of 1.08. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.37 and a fifty-two week high of $34.96.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Veritex had a return on equity of 7.55% and a net margin of 14.83%.The company had revenue of $109.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Veritex's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.90%.

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.