Short Interest in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) Declines By 19.3%

Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,340,000 shares, a decline of 19.3% from the January 15th total of 1,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 412,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Veritex from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veritex from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Veritex from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Veritex from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veritex

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Veritex by 220.5% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 966,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,247,000 after purchasing an additional 664,885 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Veritex during the fourth quarter worth about $14,644,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Veritex by 57.8% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,239,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,675,000 after acquiring an additional 454,015 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Veritex in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $11,139,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Veritex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,172,000. 88.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veritex Stock Performance

Veritex stock traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, reaching $26.37. 106,320 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 420,561. 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 has a twelve month low of $18.08 and a twelve month high of $31.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.57 and a beta of 1.38.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Veritex will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Veritex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

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.