Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $20.77, but opened at $20.13. Veritex shares last traded at $20.80, with a volume of 83,242 shares traded.

The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.06). Veritex had a return on equity of 8.51% and a net margin of 12.47%. The firm had revenue of $191.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.70 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share.

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VBTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Veritex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Veritex in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Veritex from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Veritex from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.38.

Institutional Trading of Veritex

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Veritex by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,772,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,777,000 after purchasing an additional 52,933 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Veritex by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,853,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,139,000 after purchasing an additional 305,980 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Veritex by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,816,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,260,000 after buying an additional 93,753 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Veritex by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,591,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,562,000 after buying an additional 318,600 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Veritex by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,303,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,322,000 after buying an additional 245,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.31% of the company’s stock.

Veritex Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.86 and a 200 day moving average of $20.28.

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.