Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) Shares Sold by Stieven Capital Advisors L.P.

Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. decreased its position in shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 532,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 29,100 shares during the period. Veritex accounts for about 2.6% of Stieven Capital Advisors L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Veritex were worth $14,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salzhauer Michael lifted its position in shares of Veritex by 47.2% during the fourth quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 49,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,336,000 after purchasing an additional 15,779 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Veritex by 19.0% during 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. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Veritex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $509,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Veritex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Veritex by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621 shares in the last quarter. 88.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VBTX. StockNews.com upgraded Veritex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Hovde Group raised Veritex from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Veritex from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Veritex from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Veritex from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Veritex Stock Down 0.5 %

VBTX stock opened at $26.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.63 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.08 and a twelve month high of $31.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is $27.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.54.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.02). Veritex had a return on equity of 7.59% and a net margin of 13.44%. Research analysts expect that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

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.