Kennedy Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) by 52.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 601,276 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 207,376 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.10% of Veritex worth $16,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VBTX. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Veritex in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Veritex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Veritex by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Veritex by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 1,621 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Veritex by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. 88.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Veritex Price Performance

VBTX stock traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.76. The stock had a trading volume of 198,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 390,788. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.74 and a 52-week high of $31.62. The company has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 1.11. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $24.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Veritex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VBTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Hovde Group upgraded Veritex from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens cut their price objective 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. Raymond James lowered Veritex from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $31.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Veritex in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.90.

Veritex Profile

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.