Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 54,771 Shares of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL - Free Report) by 29.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 129,435 shares of the company's stock after selling 54,771 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.42% of Amalgamated Financial worth $4,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAL. State Street Corp lifted its position in Amalgamated Financial by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 704,868 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,112,000 after purchasing an additional 33,095 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Amalgamated Financial by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 567,609 shares of the company's stock worth $17,806,000 after acquiring an additional 89,444 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 502,848 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,830,000 after acquiring an additional 17,410 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 478,888 shares of the company's stock worth $15,026,000 after purchasing an additional 34,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in Amalgamated Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,093,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Amalgamated Financial from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Amalgamated Financial Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AMAL traded down $0.04 on Wednesday, hitting $26.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,274 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,261. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $805.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $30.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.99. Amalgamated Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $21.33 and a fifty-two week high of $38.19.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. Amalgamated Financial had a net margin of 24.50% and a return on equity of 16.49%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Amalgamated Financial Corp. will post 3.65 EPS for the current year.

Amalgamated Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This is a boost from Amalgamated Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. Amalgamated Financial's payout ratio is presently 16.23%.

Amalgamated Financial announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Tyrone Graham sold 869 shares of Amalgamated Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $25,835.37. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,580 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $314,543.40. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder States Regional Joint Western sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $616,860.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,167,816 shares of the company's stock, valued at $245,641,054.32. This trade represents a 0.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,656 shares of company stock valued at $1,054,122 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amalgamated Financial 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.