Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) Shares Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 173,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,685 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Veritex were worth $4,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VBTX. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Veritex in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Veritex during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Veritex by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in Veritex in the 3rd quarter worth about $98,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Veritex by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.31% of the company’s stock.

Veritex Stock Up 2.9 %

Veritex stock opened at $27.44 on Wednesday. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.08 and a 1-year high of $31.62. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07 and a beta of 1.38.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.59%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VBTX. Stephens dropped their target price on Veritex from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Veritex from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.50 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Veritex from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Veritex from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Veritex from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.50.

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.