Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) Given New $31.00 Price Target at Raymond James

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) had its target price cut by Raymond James from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a strong-buy rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veritex from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Hovde Group raised Veritex from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.50 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Veritex from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Veritex from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Veritex from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veritex has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Veritex Stock Performance

Shares of VBTX stock traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $26.13. The company had a trading volume of 128,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 461,104. Veritex has a 52-week low of $18.08 and a 52-week high of $31.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $27.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.39. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 1.38.

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%. Research analysts anticipate that Veritex will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Veritex's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Insider Transactions at Veritex

In related news, Director John Sughrue sold 16,820 shares of Veritex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.25, for a total transaction of $508,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 62,643 shares in the company, valued at $1,894,950.75. The trade was a 21.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veritex

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VBTX. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Veritex during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Veritex during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Veritex by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Veritex during the third quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted 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 worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621 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.