Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $50.93 and last traded at $50.90, with a volume of 82164 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AMAL shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amalgamated Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Amalgamated Financial from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Amalgamated Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Amalgamated Financial from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.50.

Amalgamated Financial Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $46.48 and a 200 day moving average of $42.34.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $96.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.09 million. Amalgamated Financial had a net margin of 23.34% and a return on equity of 14.30%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amalgamated Financial Corp. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amalgamated Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Amalgamated Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Leslie Veluswamy sold 2,500 shares of Amalgamated Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.51, for a total value of $108,775.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 14,215 shares in the company, valued at $618,494.65. This trade represents a 14.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Maryann Bruce sold 2,138 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.55, for a total value of $105,937.90. Following the sale, the director owned 17,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $882,188.20. This trade represents a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 9,727 shares of company stock worth $431,077 over the last 90 days. 1.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amalgamated Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 56.7% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Arax Advisory Partners grew its stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 187.1% in the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 1,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Amalgamated Financial by 143.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Amalgamated Financial by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial by 140.6% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.93% of the company’s stock.

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.