VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

VBNK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of VersaBank from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of VersaBank in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VersaBank presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.00.

VersaBank Price Performance

VBNK opened at $16.31 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.90. The stock has a market cap of $521.10 million, a P/E ratio of 25.09 and a beta of 0.95. VersaBank has a 1 year low of $8.51 and a 1 year high of $16.99.

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.24. VersaBank had a net margin of 9.33% and a return on equity of 7.02%. The business had revenue of $25.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.48 million. Equities analysts expect that VersaBank will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

VersaBank Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. VersaBank’s dividend payout ratio is 10.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VersaBank

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pembroke Management LTD boosted its holdings in VersaBank by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pembroke Management LTD now owns 429,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,898,000 after acquiring an additional 92,262 shares during the period. Connors Investor Services Inc. purchased a new stake in VersaBank during the second quarter worth about $125,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in shares of VersaBank by 13.5% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 140,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,604,000 after purchasing an additional 16,739 shares in the last quarter. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of VersaBank in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,418,000. Finally, Salzhauer Michael grew its holdings in shares of VersaBank by 68.4% in the second quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 16,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.86% of the company’s stock.

About VersaBank

VersaBank is a Canadian Schedule I chartered bank that operates as a fully digital institution, offering a range of deposit and lending solutions through its proprietary technology platform. Headquartered in London, Ontario, the bank has chosen to forego a traditional branch network in favor of online and digital distribution, enabling it to serve clients across Canada and the United States with efficiency and lower overhead.

The bank’s primary business activities include the origination and securitization of commercial loans, equipment financing, residential mortgages and construction loans.