Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $26.94, but opened at $24.58. Veritex shares last traded at $25.91, with a volume of 115,291 shares traded.

The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.02). Veritex had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 7.79%.

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VBTX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Veritex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Veritex from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Veritex from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Veritex from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veritex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.00.

Insider Activity at Veritex

In related news, Director John Sughrue sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.25, for a total transaction of $508,805.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 62,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,894,950.75. This trade represents a 21.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 4.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Veritex in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Veritex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veritex by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP acquired a new stake in Veritex during the 3rd quarter worth about $98,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Veritex by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 1,621 shares in the last quarter. 88.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veritex Trading Down 3.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.45 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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.