Short Interest in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) Rises By 23.1%

Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, an increase of 23.1% from the April 15th total of 1,210,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 454,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VBTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Veritex from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Veritex from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veritex from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of Veritex in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.38.

Veritex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VBTX traded up $0.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $20.62. The company had a trading volume of 550,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 436,779. Veritex has a 52 week low of $15.30 and a 52 week high of $24.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.96. The business's 50 day moving average price is $19.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.48.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.06). Veritex had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 12.47%. The company had revenue of $191.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Veritex will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Veritex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veritex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veritex during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Veritex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Veritex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Veritex by 1,319.3% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,236 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Veritex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 88.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Veritex

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.