VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Roth Mkm raised their price target on VersaBank from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of VersaBank in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VersaBank presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.00.

VersaBank Stock Performance

Shares of VBNK stock opened at $13.93 on Thursday. VersaBank has a 52 week low of $8.51 and a 52 week high of $17.47. The firm has a market cap of $446.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.65.

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.27. VersaBank had a return on equity of 7.70% and a net margin of 10.03%.The company had revenue of $26.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.92 million. Analysts forecast that VersaBank will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

VersaBank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. VersaBank’s payout ratio is 10.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of VersaBank in the third quarter worth about $3,418,000. Pembroke Management LTD increased its holdings in VersaBank by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Pembroke Management LTD now owns 736,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,029,000 after purchasing an additional 213,037 shares during the period. Mudita Advisors LLP purchased a new position in VersaBank during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,462,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in VersaBank by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,915,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,604,000 after purchasing an additional 75,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Rose Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of VersaBank in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $720,000. 56.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.