Cerity Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 1,035 Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX)

Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,067,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in shares of Veritex by 7.5% in the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 14,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 994 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Veritex by 115.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,632,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,842,000 after buying an additional 875,412 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Veritex by 4.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,376,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,387,000 after buying an additional 109,477 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Veritex by 237.4% in the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 72,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,319,000 after buying an additional 50,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its position in Veritex by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,128,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,691,000 after purchasing an additional 92,526 shares during the last quarter. 87.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veritex Price Performance

Shares of VBTX opened at $18.81 on Friday. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.88 and a 1-year high of $33.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.14). Veritex had a net margin of 22.77% and a return on equity of 11.08%. The company had revenue of $114.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.40 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 9th. Veritex’s payout ratio is 28.17%.

Insider Activity

In other Veritex news, Director Gregory B. Morrison acquired 1,252 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.98 per share, with a total value of $25,014.96. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 26,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $530,548.92. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VBTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veritex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 25th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Veritex from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Hovde Group cut shares of Veritex from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $20.50 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, July 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.38.

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, consumer, paycheck protection program, 1-4 family residential, agricultural, multi-family residential, and consumer loans, as well as purchased receivables financing.