Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) Downgraded by Raymond James to Outperform

Raymond James cut shares of Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $28.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock, down from their previous price target of $31.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on VBTX. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Veritex from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Veritex in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Hovde Group raised shares of Veritex from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.90.

Veritex Trading Down 3.3 %

NASDAQ:VBTX traded down $0.71 on Wednesday, reaching $20.86. 203,000 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 383,986. 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 1-year low of $16.41 and a 1-year high of $31.62. The company's 50 day moving average is $25.49 and its 200-day moving average is $26.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 1.10.

Remove Ads

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 7.59% and a net margin of 13.44%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Veritex will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. Veritex's payout ratio is 41.03%.

Institutional Trading of Veritex

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Veritex during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Veritex by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,528 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 824 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Veritex during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $91,000 after buying an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new position in shares of Veritex in the third quarter valued at approximately $98,000. 88.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Veritex

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.