Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.25.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VBTX shares. William Blair upgraded Veritex to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Veritex in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Veritex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Veritex in a research report on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Veritex from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th.

Institutional Trading of Veritex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Veritex by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $146,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Veritex by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,978 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Veritex by 1.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Veritex by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Veritex by 117.0% during 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 period. Institutional investors own 88.31% of the company's stock.

Veritex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VBTX traded up $5.36 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $32.82. 11,068,862 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 467,091. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 16.09 and a beta of 1.03. The company's 50 day moving average is $25.13 and its 200 day moving average is $24.99. Veritex has a one year low of $20.10 and a one year high of $33.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $109.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $110.73 million. Veritex had a return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 14.12%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Veritex will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Veritex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Veritex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Veritex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.14%.

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.