Short Interest in Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT) Drops By 18.6%

Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,370,000 shares, a decline of 18.6% from the October 31st total of 2,910,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 914,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VNT has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays increased their target price on Vontier from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Argus lowered shares of Vontier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Vontier from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.50.

Vontier Stock Performance

Shares of VNT stock opened at $39.26 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.67. 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 one year low of $31.22 and a one year high of $45.62.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.73 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 company had revenue of $750.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $729.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vontier will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Vontier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Vontier’s dividend payout ratio is 3.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vontier

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Vontier by 305.1% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 902,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,473,000 after buying an additional 679,651 shares during the period. Stanley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vontier in the 2nd quarter valued at $17,954,000. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vontier by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,356,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,510,000 after acquiring an additional 415,750 shares during the period. Eldred Rock Partners LLC bought a new position in Vontier during the second quarter worth $14,613,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Vontier by 12.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,565,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,011,000 after purchasing an additional 277,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.83% of the company’s stock.

About Vontier

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.