Short Interest in Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) Rises By 22.6%

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,180,000 shares, an increase of 22.6% from the January 31st total of 962,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 199,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.9 days. Currently, 6.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity at Amalgamated Financial

In other news, Director Maryann Bruce sold 4,403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total value of $148,689.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,319 shares in the company, valued at $618,632.63. This trade represents a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sean Searby sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.49, for a total value of $97,470.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $573,091.11. The trade was a 14.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,730 shares of company stock worth $908,522 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Amalgamated Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in Amalgamated Financial by 28.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. 75.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amalgamated Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAL traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $29.80. 114,698 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 241,621. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $913.94 million, a P/E ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 0.93. Amalgamated Financial has a 12 month low of $21.33 and a 12 month high of $38.19. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $34.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.70.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. Amalgamated Financial had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 24.50%. Sell-side analysts expect that Amalgamated Financial will post 3.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amalgamated Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from Amalgamated Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Amalgamated Financial's payout ratio is presently 16.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Amalgamated Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler lowered Amalgamated Financial from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, February 21st.

Amalgamated Financial Company Profile

Amalgamated Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Amalgamated Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, investment management, and trust and custody services for commercial and retail customers in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, including non-interest bearing accounts, interest-bearing demand products, savings accounts, money market accounts, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit.