Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $41.70 and last traded at $41.77, with a volume of 10713 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on AMAL shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of Amalgamated Financial from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Amalgamated Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

Amalgamated Financial Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35 and a beta of 0.84.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.08. Amalgamated Financial had a net margin of 23.05% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The business had revenue of $87.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.37 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Amalgamated Financial Corp. will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Amalgamated Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a boost from Amalgamated Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Amalgamated Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sam D. Brown sold 5,151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.50, for a total transaction of $182,860.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 53,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,889,736. This represents a 8.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amalgamated Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAL. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $2,100,000. Isthmus Partners LLC boosted its position in Amalgamated Financial by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 115,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,712,000 after buying an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $935,000. Bailard Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 75.2% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 16,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 7,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 24,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 3,058 shares in the last quarter. 75.93% of the stock is currently owned by 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.