Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Decreases Stock Holdings in Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its holdings in Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 86,089 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,570 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Amalgamated Financial were worth $2,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $13,093,000. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial during the fourth quarter worth $5,339,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Amalgamated Financial by 219.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 162,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,083,000 after purchasing an additional 111,357 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Amalgamated Financial by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 567,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,806,000 after buying an additional 89,444 shares during the period. Finally, Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Amalgamated Financial during the 4th quarter worth $2,778,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.93% of the company’s stock.

Amalgamated Financial Stock Performance

Amalgamated Financial stock opened at $26.20 on Tuesday. Amalgamated Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $21.33 and a 52 week high of $38.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $804.00 million, a P/E ratio of 7.59 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.73 and a 200-day moving average of $33.29.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. Amalgamated Financial had a net margin of 24.50% and a return on equity of 16.49%. On average, 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 was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. This is an increase from Amalgamated Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Amalgamated Financial’s payout ratio is 16.23%.

Amalgamated Financial declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler downgraded Amalgamated Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder States Regional Joint Western sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $616,860.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,167,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,641,054.32. This trade represents a 0.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Maryann Bruce sold 4,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total transaction 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 position. 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. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.