Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $51.62 and last traded at $51.51, with a volume of 111,263 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Amalgamated Financial in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Amalgamated Financial from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered Amalgamated Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Amalgamated Financial from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Amalgamated Financial Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $48.00 and a 200-day moving average of $43.47. The company has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $99.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.26 million. Amalgamated Financial had a return on equity of 15.00% and a net margin of 24.57%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Amalgamated Financial Corp. will post 4.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Amalgamated Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 3rd. Amalgamated Financial’s payout ratio is currently 16.71%.

Insider Transactions at Amalgamated Financial

In related news, EVP Sean Searby sold 3,314 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.75, for a total transaction of $158,243.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,001.50. This trade represents a 15.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Jason Darby sold 19,995 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.10, for a total transaction of $961,759.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,851 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,233.10. The trade was a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,724,705 shares of company stock worth $83,009,328. 1.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amalgamated Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAL. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Amalgamated Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $156,331,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,771,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,931,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,459,000. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,746,000. 75.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amalgamated Financial Company Profile

Amalgamated Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:AMAL) is the parent company of Amalgamated Bank, a commercial bank that provides banking, lending and financial services to businesses, nonprofit organizations, labor unions, political organizations and individual consumers. The bank is known for serving mission-driven and socially responsible organizations, as well as customers seeking conventional banking products.

Amalgamated Bank offers commercial and consumer deposits, commercial and real estate lending, treasury management, online and mobile banking, payment services, and investment management.