Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - What's Next?

Key Points

• Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) experienced a significant increase in trading volume, with approximately 1,015,998 shares traded, reflecting a 45% rise from the previous session.
• Wall Street analysts generally hold a positive outlook on Veritex, with five analysts rating the stock as a Buy and a target price averaging $33.25.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, providing an annualized yield of 2.9%.

Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday . Approximately 1,015,998 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 45% from the previous session's volume of 698,992 shares.The stock last traded at $30.17 and had previously closed at $29.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VBTX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Veritex in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. William Blair raised shares of Veritex to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Veritex in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $34.00 price target (up previously from $30.00) on shares of Veritex in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of 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 four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veritex has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.25.

Veritex Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's fifty day moving average is $33.10 and its 200-day moving average is $28.28. 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 (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 3rd. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $64.03 million for the quarter. Veritex had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 7.55%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Veritex's dividend payout ratio is 41.90%.

Insider Activity at Veritex

In other Veritex news, Director Fallon William sold 7,220 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.68, for a total transaction of $221,509.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,191 shares in the company, valued at $435,379.88. This represents a 33.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arcilia Acosta sold 7,279 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.14, for a total transaction of $233,947.06. Following the sale, the director owned 54,933 shares in the company, valued at $1,765,546.62. This trade represents a 11.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 320,699 shares of company stock valued at $10,361,627. 4.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veritex

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VBTX. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Veritex by 50.6% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veritex during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Veritex by 260.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Veritex by 28.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Veritex during the first quarter worth approximately $135,000. 88.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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