Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) Reaches New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $33.34 and last traded at $33.24, with a volume of 49792 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMAL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of Amalgamated Financial in a research report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Amalgamated Financial from $31.50 to $32.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th.

Amalgamated Financial Stock Up 3.7 %

The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Amalgamated Financial had a net margin of 23.64% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The business had revenue of $108.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Amalgamated Financial Corp. will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

Amalgamated Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Amalgamated Financial's payout ratio is 14.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amalgamated Financial

In related news, major shareholder United Canada Council Workers sold 82,464 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.05, for a total transaction of $2,560,507.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 440,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,674,451.05. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amalgamated Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 3.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,157,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,716,000 after buying an additional 43,213 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 428,745 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,748,000 after purchasing an additional 63,561 shares during the period. Arjuna Capital boosted its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 176,180 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,827,000 after purchasing an additional 4,319 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Amalgamated Financial by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 158,643 shares of the company's stock worth $4,347,000 after purchasing an additional 4,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group raised its holdings in Amalgamated Financial by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 144,541 shares of the company's stock worth $3,960,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares during the period. 75.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.