Short Interest in Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) Drops By 8.8%

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 803,500 shares, a drop of 8.8% from the March 31st total of 881,100 shares. Approximately 4.6% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 151,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Amalgamated Financial Stock Performance

AMAL traded down $0.28 on Monday, hitting $24.32. The company had a trading volume of 118,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 145,091. The stock has a market cap of $741.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company's fifty day moving average price is $23.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.96. Amalgamated Financial has a 1-year low of $14.05 and a 1-year high of $27.77.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $107.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.77 million. Amalgamated Financial had a net margin of 23.22% and a return on equity of 16.81%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Amalgamated Financial will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amalgamated Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. This is a positive change from Amalgamated Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Amalgamated Financial's payout ratio is presently 15.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amalgamated Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Amalgamated Financial by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,633 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 8.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,883 shares of the company's stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 98,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,648,000 after buying an additional 1,314 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Amalgamated Financial by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,310 shares of the company's stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 1,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in Amalgamated Financial by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 9,914 shares of the company's stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $29.00 price objective (up previously from $28.00) on shares of Amalgamated Financial in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Amalgamated Financial from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Amalgamated Financial from $33.00 to $29.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th.

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.