Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT) Short Interest Update

Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,330,000 shares, a decline of 14.0% from the December 15th total of 2,710,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 841,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VNT. UBS Group initiated coverage on Vontier in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research raised Vontier from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Vontier from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Vontier from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.63.

Vontier Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE VNT traded up $0.30 on Friday, hitting $37.51. 490,087 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 719,210. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Vontier has a twelve month low of $31.22 and a twelve month high of $45.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $37.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.27.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.04. Vontier had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 45.48%. The business had revenue of $750.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $729.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Vontier will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vontier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Vontier’s payout ratio is 3.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vontier

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vontier by 2,976.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new position in Vontier in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Vontier in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Vontier by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vontier by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. 95.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vontier Company Profile

Vontier Corporation provides mobility ecosystem solutions worldwide. The company operates through Mobility Technologies, Repair Solutions, and Environmental and Fueling Solutions segments. The Mobility Technologies segment provides digitally equipment solutions for mobility ecosystem, such as point-of-sale and payment systems, workflow automation, telematics, data analytics, software platform, and integrated solutions for alternative fuel dispensing.