Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) shares 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Amalgamated Financial Trading Down 1.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $34.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.27.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 fiscal year.

Amalgamated Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This is a boost from Amalgamated Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Amalgamated Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amalgamated Financial

In other news, Director Maryann Bruce sold 4,403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total value of $148,689.31. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,632.63. This represents a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder States Regional Joint Western sold 62,971 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.72, for a total transaction of $2,249,324.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,263,423 shares in the company, valued at $259,449,469.56. The trade was a 0.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,701 shares of company stock valued at $4,118,476 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amalgamated Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAL. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Amalgamated Financial by 74.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Amalgamated Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Harrington Investments INC increased its holdings in Amalgamated Financial by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Harrington Investments INC now owns 80,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,695,000 after buying an additional 1,310 shares in 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.