Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) Short Interest Down 21.1% in October

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 732,300 shares, a drop of 21.1% from the October 15th total of 927,600 shares. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 158,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days.

Amalgamated Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAL opened at $35.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 0.91. Amalgamated Financial has a twelve month low of $20.39 and a twelve month high of $38.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.08. Amalgamated Financial had a net margin of 24.19% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The firm had revenue of $111.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Amalgamated Financial will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Amalgamated Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. Amalgamated Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of Amalgamated Financial in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Regional Joint Board Rochester sold 55,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.32, for a total value of $1,917,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 355,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,214,247.76. This represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jason Darby sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.59, for a total transaction of $146,360.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,837,110.72. The trade was a 7.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 625,919 shares of company stock worth $21,688,307. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amalgamated Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 219.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 162,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,083,000 after buying an additional 111,357 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Amalgamated Financial by 17.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 428,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,748,000 after acquiring an additional 63,561 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 91.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,739,000 after purchasing an additional 57,008 shares in the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $1,781,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,612,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.93% of the company’s stock.

Amalgamated Financial Company 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.