Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) Holdings Raised by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 264,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,882 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.48% of Veritex worth $7,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VBTX. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Veritex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $509,000. Salzhauer Michael increased its position in shares of Veritex by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 49,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,336,000 after purchasing an additional 15,779 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Veritex by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 173,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,707,000 after buying an additional 27,685 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Veritex in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Veritex by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 1,621 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.31% of the company’s stock.

Veritex Stock Up 1.4 %

VBTX stock opened at $26.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 1.38. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.08 and a 52-week high of $31.62. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.84.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.02). Veritex had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.59%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on VBTX shares. Raymond James dropped 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, January 30th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Veritex from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Veritex from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.50 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on Veritex from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Veritex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

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.