Raymond James Has Lowered Expectations for Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) Stock Price

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) had its price objective reduced by Raymond James from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has a strong-buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Veritex from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Veritex from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veritex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Hovde Group raised shares of Veritex from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.50 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Veritex Price Performance

Shares of VBTX opened at $26.81 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.96 and a 200-day moving average of $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. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 1.38. Veritex has a twelve month low of $18.08 and a twelve month high of $31.62.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.02). Veritex had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.63%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Veritex will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Sughrue sold 16,820 shares of Veritex stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.25, for a total transaction of $508,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,894,950.75. The trade was a 21.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veritex

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Veritex during the second quarter worth approximately $730,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Veritex in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,531,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Veritex by 66.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 424,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,944,000 after buying an additional 169,448 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veritex by 56.2% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 292,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,169,000 after buying an additional 105,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Veritex by 6.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605 shares during the period. 88.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.