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

Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $20.77, but opened at $20.13. Veritex shares last traded at $20.80, with a volume of 83,242 shares.

The financial services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.06). Veritex had a net margin of 12.47% and a return on equity of 8.51%. The firm had revenue of $191.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VBTX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Veritex from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Veritex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Veritex from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Veritex in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veritex

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veritex during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Veritex in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Veritex by 1,319.3% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Veritex in the fourth quarter worth $76,000. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veritex by 363,500.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 3,635 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.31% of the company’s stock.

Veritex Trading Down 1.9 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $19.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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.