Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $2.20 Million Position in Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL)

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:AMAL) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 65,850 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,086 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Amalgamated Financial worth $2,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Amalgamated Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Amalgamated Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Amalgamated Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $90,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Amalgamated Financial by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.93% of the company’s stock.

Amalgamated Financial Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of AMAL opened at $30.62 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $936.67 million, a PE ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 0.86. Amalgamated Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $24.02 and a 12-month high of $38.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88. Amalgamated Financial had a net margin of 24.50% and a return on equity of 16.49%. The company had revenue of $79.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Amalgamated Financial Corp. will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Amalgamated Financial announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Amalgamated Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Amalgamated Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amalgamated Financial news, EVP Sean Searby sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.49, for a total value of $97,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $573,091.11. This represents a 14.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tyrone Graham sold 869 shares of Amalgamated Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $25,835.37. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,543.40. This represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,926 shares of company stock valued at $243,070 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAL has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler cut shares of Amalgamated Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Amalgamated Financial from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th.

Amalgamated Financial 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.