Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Position in Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) by 29.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 129,435 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,771 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Amalgamated Financial were worth $4,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 198.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 35,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after buying an additional 23,697 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Amalgamated Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $469,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 18.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 567,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,806,000 after purchasing an additional 89,444 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 4.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 704,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,112,000 after purchasing an additional 33,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial in the third quarter valued at $496,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Piper Sandler downgraded Amalgamated Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maryann Bruce sold 4,403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total transaction of $148,689.31. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $618,632.63. This represents a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Tyrone Graham sold 869 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $25,835.37. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,543.40. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,656 shares of company stock valued at $1,054,122 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Amalgamated Financial Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAL opened at $26.24 on Friday. Amalgamated Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $21.33 and a 12-month high of $38.19. The company has a market cap of $805.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.09.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. Amalgamated Financial had a net margin of 24.50% and a return on equity of 16.49%. Equities research analysts expect that Amalgamated Financial Corp. will post 3.65 EPS for the current year.

Amalgamated Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from Amalgamated Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Amalgamated Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.23%.

Amalgamated Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Amalgamated Financial

Amalgamated Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Amalgamated Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, investment management, and trust and custody services for commercial and retail customers in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, including non-interest bearing accounts, interest-bearing demand products, savings accounts, money market accounts, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit.