Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,250,000 shares, a growth of 31.5% from the July 31st total of 950,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 354,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veritex

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VBTX. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Veritex by 968.5% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 566,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,603,000 after buying an additional 513,284 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Veritex in the 1st quarter valued at about $9,139,000. F M Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Veritex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,483,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Veritex by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,853,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,139,000 after buying an additional 305,980 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Veritex by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,303,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,322,000 after buying an additional 245,133 shares during the period. 88.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veritex Price Performance

Shares of Veritex stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $25.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 377,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,234. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.94. Veritex has a one year low of $15.93 and a one year high of $25.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 1.38.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). Veritex had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $106.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $108.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Veritex will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VBTX has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veritex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Veritex in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Veritex from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Veritex from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.50.

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.