Short Interest in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) Increases By 74.1%

Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,350,000 shares, an increase of 74.1% from the February 13th total of 775,400 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 404,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Veritex Price Performance

NASDAQ VBTX opened at $24.45 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54 and a beta of 1.36. Veritex has a 1 year low of $18.41 and a 1 year high of $31.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.91. 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 (NASDAQ:VBTX) last posted 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 7.59%. On average, research analysts forecast that Veritex will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VBTX shares. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Veritex from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Hovde Group upgraded 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 target price on Veritex from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on Veritex from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Institutional Trading of Veritex

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Veritex by 14.7% during 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 period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Veritex by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Veritex by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 73,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,920,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Veritex by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in Veritex by 117.0% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 824 shares during the period. 88.31% of the stock is 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.