Short Interest in Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) Rises By 5.3%

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 881,100 shares, a growth of 5.3% from the March 15th total of 837,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 154,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.7 days. Currently, 5.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Amalgamated Financial Stock Performance

Shares of AMAL stock opened at $21.55 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $23.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.62. The firm has a market cap of $657.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 0.94. Amalgamated Financial has a 1 year low of $14.05 and a 1 year high of $27.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.01). Amalgamated Financial had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 22.71%. The business had revenue of $105.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. Analysts predict that Amalgamated Financial will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Amalgamated Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 5th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Amalgamated Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amalgamated Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Credit Suisse AG boosted its stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 3.9% during the third quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 11,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Amalgamated Financial by 4.6% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Amalgamated Financial by 96.4% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Amalgamated Financial by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Amalgamated Financial by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Amalgamated Financial from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Amalgamated Financial from $33.00 to $29.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 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.