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

Raymond James lowered shares of Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Raymond James currently has $28.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $31.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stephens lowered their price target on Veritex from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Veritex in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded Veritex from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.90.

Veritex Stock Performance

Shares of VBTX opened at $21.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $25.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.86. The firm has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 1.10. 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 12 month low of $18.74 and a 12 month high of $31.62.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.02). Veritex had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.59%. Equities research analysts predict that Veritex will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

Institutional Trading of Veritex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Veritex during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Veritex by 117.0% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 824 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Veritex in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veritex by 14.7% during the 4th 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. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP acquired a new position in Veritex during the 3rd quarter worth $98,000. 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.