Short Interest in Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) Drops By 8.8%

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 803,500 shares, a drop of 8.8% from the March 31st total of 881,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 151,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days. Currently, 4.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (up from $28.00) on shares of Amalgamated Financial in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Amalgamated Financial from $33.00 to $29.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Amalgamated Financial from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th.

Amalgamated Financial Price Performance

Amalgamated Financial stock opened at $24.54 on Wednesday. Amalgamated Financial has a 12-month low of $14.05 and a 12-month high of $27.77. The stock has a market cap of $748.47 million, a P/E ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $23.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.11. Amalgamated Financial had a net margin of 23.22% and a return on equity of 16.81%. The business had revenue of $107.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.77 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amalgamated Financial will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Amalgamated Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. This is a boost from Amalgamated Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Amalgamated Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amalgamated Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMAL. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in Amalgamated Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Amalgamated Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $126,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Amalgamated Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $137,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Amalgamated Financial by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,665 shares during the last quarter. 75.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.