Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AMAL. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amalgamated Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Amalgamated Financial from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Amalgamated Financial from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Amalgamated Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Amalgamated Financial Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAL opened at $49.17 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $48.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.50. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.79. Amalgamated Financial has a 1 year low of $25.13 and a 1 year high of $51.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.10. Amalgamated Financial had a return on equity of 14.30% and a net margin of 23.34%.The firm had revenue of $96.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.09 million. On average, analysts forecast that Amalgamated Financial will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amalgamated Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 4th. Amalgamated Financial’s payout ratio is 18.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Leslie Veluswamy sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.51, for a total transaction of $108,775.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 14,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $618,494.65. This trade represents a 14.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder States Regional Joint Western sold 44,244 shares of Amalgamated Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $2,132,118.36. Following the sale, the insider owned 6,988,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $336,786,754.13. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 275,286 shares of company stock valued at $13,190,770. Insiders own 1.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amalgamated Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Amalgamated Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,259,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $6,459,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,434,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,943,000 after purchasing an additional 49,037 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter worth $935,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the second quarter worth $1,298,000. 75.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Amalgamated Financial

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: AMAL) is the bank holding company for Amalgamated Bank, a fully insured commercial bank with a historic mission of serving labor unions, progressive non-profits and mission-driven organizations. Founded in 1923 by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, Amalgamated Bank has grown into a national institution offering a broad suite of banking services, including deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, cash management, and treasury solutions tailored to organizations with social responsibility or union affiliations.

In addition to core banking, Amalgamated Financial provides wealth management and trust services, retirement plan consulting and impact investing strategies.