Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Position in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 271,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,255 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of Veritex worth $6,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VBTX. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Veritex by 13.8% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 19,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 2,347 shares during the period. Salzhauer Michael raised its holdings in Veritex by 20.7% in the first quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 59,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 10,184 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC bought a new position in Veritex in the first quarter worth $1,442,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Veritex in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veritex by 1.5% during the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 37,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $925,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.31% of the company’s stock.

Veritex Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of VBTX opened at $31.75 on Wednesday. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.10 and a 52-week high of $33.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $109.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.73 million. Veritex had a return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 14.12%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Veritex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 8th. This is a boost from Veritex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Veritex in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Veritex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Veritex from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Veritex in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Veritex to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.25.

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.