Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 60,143 Shares of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) by 146.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 101,232 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,143 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Amalgamated Financial were worth $3,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Amalgamated Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Amalgamated Financial by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Amalgamated Financial in the third quarter worth $214,000. 75.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amalgamated Financial Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:AMAL opened at $29.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $911.40 million, a P/E ratio of 8.61 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Amalgamated Financial Corp. has a 12 month low of $21.33 and a 12 month high of $38.19. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.58.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last issued its quarterly 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Amalgamated Financial Corp. will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Amalgamated Financial declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Amalgamated Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from Amalgamated Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. Amalgamated Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amalgamated Financial

In other news, EVP Sean Searby sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.49, for a total value of $97,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $573,091.11. The trade was a 14.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tyrone Graham sold 869 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $25,835.37. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,543.40. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,916 shares of company stock worth $1,035,526. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on AMAL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Amalgamated Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler downgraded Amalgamated Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, February 21st.

Amalgamated Financial Company Profile

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.