Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) Short Interest Down 14.6% in April

Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,350,000 shares, a decline of 14.6% from the March 31st total of 1,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 405,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days. Currently, 2.6% of the company's stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of Veritex from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Hovde Group raised Veritex from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.50 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson cut their price target on Veritex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Veritex from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Veritex in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Veritex has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Veritex Stock Performance

Veritex stock traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $23.86. 108,560 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 388,761. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's 50 day moving average is $23.41 and its 200 day moving average is $26.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.95. Veritex has a 52-week low of $18.74 and a 52-week high of $31.62.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $109.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.73 million. Veritex had a return on equity of 7.59% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Veritex will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. This is a boost from Veritex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. Veritex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veritex

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Veritex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veritex during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Veritex by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,528 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 824 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Veritex during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Veritex by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.31% of the company's stock.

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.