Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

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

Institutional Trading of Veritex

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VBTX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Veritex in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Veritex in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Veritex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veritex during the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veritex during the fourth quarter worth $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.31% of the company's stock.

Veritex Stock Performance

Shares of VBTX traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.19. 377,350 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 402,234. Veritex has a 52 week low of $15.93 and a 52 week high of $25.84. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $22.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $106.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $108.39 million. Veritex had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 11.52%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Veritex's dividend payout ratio is 46.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VBTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Veritex in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Veritex from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Veritex from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on shares of Veritex from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.50.

Veritex Company 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.