Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 12,086 Shares of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL - Free Report) by 22.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,850 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,086 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.21% of Amalgamated Financial worth $2,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 40,587 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,358,000 after buying an additional 1,247 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $1,841,000. Ethic Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $398,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 66.8% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 5,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 7,596 shares of the company's stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 831 shares in the last quarter. 75.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Amalgamated Financial from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler cut Amalgamated Financial from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Amalgamated Financial Stock Down 0.2%

AMAL traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.57. 140,915 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 190,301. The stock has a market cap of $904.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 0.86. Amalgamated Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $24.02 and a fifty-two week high of $38.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $28.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.28.

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

Amalgamated Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. Amalgamated Financial's dividend payout ratio is 16.62%.

Amalgamated Financial announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sean Searby sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.49, for a total transaction of $97,470.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $573,091.11. This represents a 14.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Tyrone Graham sold 3,317 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.50, for a total value of $101,168.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,194.50. This represents a 22.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,926 shares of company stock valued at $243,070. Insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

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.