Veritex's (VBTX) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at DA Davidson

DA Davidson restated their buy rating on shares of Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $29.00 target price on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on VBTX. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Veritex from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Veritex from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on shares of Veritex from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Veritex presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $27.50.

Veritex Stock Performance

NASDAQ VBTX traded up $0.66 on Wednesday, hitting $24.81. 315,613 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 402,089. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $22.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Veritex has a 1-year low of $15.93 and a 1-year high of $25.84.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $108.39 million. Veritex had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 7.97%. Veritex's revenue for the quarter was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Veritex will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Veritex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veritex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Veritex by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 264,840 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,585,000 after buying an additional 57,540 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Veritex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $234,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Veritex by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veritex by 56.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 292,499 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,169,000 after purchasing an additional 105,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veritex by 66.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 424,106 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,944,000 after purchasing an additional 169,448 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.31% of the company's stock.

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.