Sei Investments Co. Reduces Stake in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX)

Sei Investments Co. has recently reduced its holdings in shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, as revealed in its latest report filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Following this adjustment, Sei Investments Co. now owns 373,253 shares of the financial services firm, having sold 39,385 shares in the process. The value of Sei Investments Co.'s stake is approximately $10,138,000, representing around 0.69% of Veritex's total shares.

Other institutional investors have also modified their positions in VBTX. For instance, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Veritex valued at about $32,000 in the fourth quarter. Similarly, R Squared Ltd bought a new position worth around $45,000 during the same period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its ownership in Veritex by 14.7% and now holds 3,360 shares worth around $91,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares. Furthermore, Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in the previous quarter valued at approximately $98,000. In addition, KBC Group NV increased its ownership by 73.5%, now holding 3,826 shares worth about $104,000 after adding 1,621 shares. Collectively, hedge funds and other institutional investors currently hold 88.31% of the stock.

Wall Street Analysts Predict Growth

Veritex shares have recently attracted attention from several analysts. A research report from DA Davidson reasserted a "buy" rating for Veritex, with a price target of $34.00. In contrast, Raymond James lowered its price target from $32.00 to $31.00 while giving the stock a "strong-buy" rating. Stephens also cut its price target from $34.00 to $31.00 but maintained an "equal weight" rating. Hovde Group upgraded Veritex from a "market perform" rating to "outperform" and set a target price of $31.50. Overall, three analysts have given a hold rating, three have rated it a buy, and one has provided a strong buy recommendation, resulting in an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $31.50 according to MarketBeat.com.

Veritex Shares Experience a Decline

As of Friday, Veritex's stock opened at $24.48. The stock has a fifty-day moving average of $25.78 and a two-hundred-day moving average of $26.90. Over the past year, Veritex Holdings has seen its shares fluctuate between a low of $18.74 and a high of $31.62. Its market capitalization stands at $1.33 billion, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55 and a beta of 1.36. The company's debt-to-equity ratio is at 0.14, while its current and quick ratios are 0.95 and 0.94, respectively.

In its most recent quarterly earnings report issued on January 28th, Veritex announced earnings per share of $0.54, which fell short of analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by two cents. The firm maintained a return on equity of 7.59% and reported a net margin of 13.44%. Analysts are projecting that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will achieve earnings of approximately $2.26 per share for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Declares a Dividend

The company has also made an announcement regarding its quarterly dividend, which was distributed on February 28th. Shareholders of record as of February 14th received a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was the same, February 14th. This indicates an annualized dividend of $0.80, offering a yield of 3.27%. The payout ratio stands at 41.03%.

About Veritex Holdings, Inc.

Veritex Holdings, Inc. functions as the bank holding company for Veritex Community Bank, providing a wide array of commercial banking products and services tailored for small and medium-sized businesses and professional clients. Among its deposit offerings are demand accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and time accounts. Veritex also provides various loan products, including commercial real estate loans, general commercial loans, mortgage warehouse loans, residential real estate loans, construction loans, farmland loans, paycheck protection program loans, 1-4 family residential loans, agricultural loans, multi-family residential loans, consumer loans, as well as financing for purchased receivables.

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