Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) Short Interest Up 23.4% in November

Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,690,000 shares, an increase of 23.4% from the November 15th total of 1,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 393,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Veritex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VBTX traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $29.75. 48,815 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 397,355. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Veritex has a 12 month low of $18.08 and a 12 month high of $31.62. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $28.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO C Malcolm Holland III sold 12,777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $6,206,215.08. The trade was a 5.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John Sughrue sold 16,820 shares of the business’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 value of $508,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,894,950.75. This trade represents a 21.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veritex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sippican Capital Advisors grew its holdings in Veritex by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 99,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,612,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Veritex by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 27,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Veritex by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 73,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,920,000 after buying an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd lifted its position in shares of Veritex by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 5,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Veritex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. 88.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VBTX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Veritex from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Veritex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Veritex from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. DA Davidson upped 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. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Veritex from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.40.

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.