Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 263,653 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 33% from the previous session’s volume of 198,902 shares.The stock last traded at $36.30 and had previously closed at $36.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Amalgamated Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Amalgamated Financial from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Amalgamated Financial Trading Up 1.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.32.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last announced its 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 return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 24.50%. Equities analysts expect that Amalgamated Financial Corp. will post 3.65 EPS for the current year.

Amalgamated Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This is a boost from Amalgamated Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Amalgamated Financial’s payout ratio is 13.91%.

Insider Transactions at Amalgamated Financial

In related news, Director Maryann Bruce sold 4,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was 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 $618,632.63. The trade was a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,196,440.74. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,730 shares of company stock worth $1,869,152. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amalgamated Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 198.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 35,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,119,000 after buying an additional 23,697 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 18.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 704,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,112,000 after buying an additional 33,095 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $496,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 478,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,026,000 after purchasing an additional 34,109 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.93% of the company’s stock.

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.