AlphaQuest LLC Buys 12,269 Shares of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL)

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) by 103.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,174 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,269 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Amalgamated Financial were worth $809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 28.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the third quarter worth about $214,000. 75.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AMAL shares. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Amalgamated Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Amalgamated Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Amalgamated Financial Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of AMAL stock opened at $28.33 on Tuesday. Amalgamated Financial Corp. has a 52-week low of $21.33 and a 52-week high of $38.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.72. The company has a market capitalization of $868.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.93.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. Amalgamated Financial had a net margin of 24.50% and a return on equity of 16.49%. Research analysts anticipate that Amalgamated Financial Corp. will post 3.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amalgamated Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. This is a boost from Amalgamated Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Amalgamated Financial’s payout ratio is presently 16.23%.

Amalgamated Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $40.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amalgamated Financial

In other Amalgamated Financial news, EVP Sean Searby sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.49, for a total value of $97,470.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,639 shares in the company, valued at $573,091.11. The trade was a 14.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder States Regional Joint Western sold 1,327 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.29, for a total transaction of $45,502.83. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,121,506 shares in the company, valued at $244,196,440.74. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,916 shares of company stock worth $1,035,526 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amalgamated Financial Profile

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.