AlphaQuest LLC Buys 12,269 Shares of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL)

AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) by 103.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 24,174 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,269 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Amalgamated Financial worth $809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMAL. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter worth $5,339,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 219.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 162,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,083,000 after buying an additional 111,357 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 18.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 567,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,806,000 after buying an additional 89,444 shares during the last quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter worth $2,778,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter worth $2,244,000. Institutional investors own 75.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amalgamated Financial

In related news, major shareholder States Regional Joint Western sold 1,327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.29, for a total value of $45,502.83. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,121,506 shares in the company, valued at $244,196,440.74. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Maryann Bruce sold 4,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total transaction of $148,689.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,632.63. The trade was a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,916 shares of company stock worth $1,035,526 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Amalgamated Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAL opened at $28.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $868.85 million, a PE ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $34.06 and its 200-day moving average is $33.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. Amalgamated Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $21.33 and a 52 week high of $38.19.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. Amalgamated Financial had a net margin of 24.50% and a return on equity of 16.49%. Sell-side analysts predict that Amalgamated Financial Corp. will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Amalgamated Financial announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Amalgamated Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This is a positive change from Amalgamated Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Amalgamated Financial’s payout ratio is presently 16.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler cut shares of Amalgamated Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Amalgamated Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

About Amalgamated Financial

Amalgamated Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Amalgamated Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, investment management, and trust and custody services for commercial and retail customers in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, including non-interest bearing accounts, interest-bearing demand products, savings accounts, money market accounts, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit.