Swiss National Bank Sells 4,400 Shares of Veritiv Co. (NYSE:VRTV)

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in shares of Veritiv Co. (NYSE:VRTV) by 13.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.20% of Veritiv worth $3,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRTV. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Veritiv by 142.0% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Veritiv by 168.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 5,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 3,715 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Veritiv by 1,390.0% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Veritiv by 6.2% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,994 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veritiv by 59.1% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 7,612 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 2,828 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRTV. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Veritiv from $159.00 to $158.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. StockNews.com began coverage on Veritiv in a research note on Saturday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company.

Veritiv Price Performance

Shares of VRTV opened at $168.10 on Friday. Veritiv Co. has a 12-month low of $94.50 and a 12-month high of $169.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $146.25 and its 200 day moving average is $130.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 2.22.

Veritiv (NYSE:VRTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The basic materials company reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.02 by $0.13. Veritiv had a return on equity of 37.30% and a net margin of 4.78%. The business had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Veritiv Co. will post 20.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veritiv Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 16th. Veritiv’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.35%.

Veritiv Profile

Veritiv Corporation operates as a business-to-business provider of value-added packaging products and services, facility solutions, and print based products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through Packaging, Facility Solutions, and Print segments. The Packaging segment provides packaging product materials within flexible, corrugated and fiber, ancillary packaging, rigid, and equipment categories.