Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $26.94, but opened at $24.58. Veritex shares last traded at $25.91, with a volume of 115,291 shares traded.

The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.02). Veritex had a return on equity of 7.79% and a net margin of 11.11%.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Veritex’s payout ratio is presently 51.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on VBTX. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Veritex from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Veritex from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. 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. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Veritex from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Veritex from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Sughrue sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,894,950.75. This trade represents a 21.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veritex

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Veritex by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,293,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,064,000 after buying an additional 18,185 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Veritex by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 117,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,095,000 after acquiring an additional 45,787 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Veritex by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Veritex by 24.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 631,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,618,000 after acquiring an additional 122,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Veritex by 4.6% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 48,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,279,000 after purchasing an additional 2,115 shares during the period. 88.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Veritex Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.19 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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.