Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $30.86 and last traded at $30.69, with a volume of 32768 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $30.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Veritex from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Veritex from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veritex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens boosted their target price on Veritex from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on Veritex from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.40.

Veritex Stock Down 1.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.37.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $113.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.22 million. Veritex had a return on equity of 7.79% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Malcolm Holland III sold 12,777 shares of Veritex stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.69, for a total value of $353,795.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 224,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,206,215.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Malcolm Holland III sold 12,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.69, for a total value of $353,795.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 224,132 shares in the company, valued at $6,206,215.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Sughrue sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now owns 62,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,894,950.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VBTX. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Veritex during the 1st quarter valued at $9,139,000. F M Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Veritex during the second quarter valued at approximately $8,483,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Veritex by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 807,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,248,000 after acquiring an additional 325,569 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Veritex by 14.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,445,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,566,000 after purchasing an additional 299,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in Veritex by 16.4% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,668,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,193,000 after acquiring an additional 235,154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.31% of the company’s stock.

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.