Short Interest in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) Increases By 28.3%

Key Points

• Veritex Holdings saw a significant increase of 28.3% in short interest, rising from 1.2 million shares to 1.54 million shares in August, resulting in a short-interest ratio of 1.8 days.
• Analyst ratings for VBTX are generally positive, with five analysts giving a buy rating and an average price target of $33.25, reflecting bullish sentiment in the market.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, which translates to an annual yield of 2.6%, with a payout ratio of 41.90%.

Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,540,000 shares, a growth of 28.3% from the July 31st total of 1,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 833,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 833,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Veritex Stock Performance

VBTX traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $34.40. 681,532 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 783,883. The stock has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.20 and a 200 day moving average of $26.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Veritex has a 52 week low of $20.37 and a 52 week high of $34.96.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. Veritex had a return on equity of 7.55% and a net margin of 14.83%.The company had revenue of $109.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $110.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Veritex will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Veritex's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veritex news, Director Fallon William sold 7,220 shares of Veritex stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.68, for a total value of $221,509.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,191 shares in the company, valued at $435,379.88. The trade was a 33.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cara Mcdaniel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.53, for a total value of $325,300.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $565,111.16. The trade was a 36.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 320,699 shares of company stock worth $10,361,627 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VBTX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Veritex by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,931,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $98,172,000 after buying an additional 56,676 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Veritex by 3.0% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,040,856 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $50,960,000 after buying an additional 59,056 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veritex by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,333,186 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,801,000 after buying an additional 14,029 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veritex by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,239,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,675,000 after buying an additional 454,015 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veritex by 22.7% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,185,353 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,598,000 after buying an additional 218,962 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.