AlphaQuest LLC Grows Position in Veritex Holdings, Inc. $VBTX

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Veritex Holdings by 133.3% during the 1st quarter, owning 72,568 shares valued at $1,812,000.
• Veritex reported $0.56 earnings per share for the last quarter, beating analyst expectations of $0.54.
• Shareholders recently received a $0.22 quarterly dividend, representing a 2.6% yield, with a current payout ratio of 41.90%.

AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) by 133.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 41,467 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC owned about 0.13% of Veritex worth $1,812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veritex by 1.5% in the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 37,056 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $925,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Veritex by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 751 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its stake in Veritex by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,528 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 824 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Veritex by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $811,000 after acquiring an additional 992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in Veritex by 6.9% in the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 15,425 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Veritex

In other news, Director John Sughrue sold 5,669 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $181,408.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 50,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,620,864. This represents a 10.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Angela Harper sold 47,716 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.37, for a total value of $1,544,566.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 59,683 shares in the company, valued at $1,931,938.71. The trade was a 44.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 320,699 shares of company stock worth $10,361,627. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Veritex Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of VBTX stock traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $33.68. 755,491 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 574,254. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04 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 $33.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.23.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Veritex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.