Benjamin Edwards Inc. Boosts Holdings in Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,353 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Vontier were worth $185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VNT. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Vontier by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 68,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,113,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Vontier by 1.8% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 27,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $858,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Vontier by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Vontier by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 10,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Vontier by 78.9% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. 95.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VNT shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Vontier from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Vontier from $39.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Vontier from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America raised shares of Vontier from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Vontier from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

Vontier Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of VNT traded down $0.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.44. The stock had a trading volume of 759,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 615,216. Vontier Co. has a 1 year low of $26.79 and a 1 year high of $45.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $42.62 and its 200 day moving average is $37.16. The firm has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.33.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. Vontier had a net margin of 14.02% and a return on equity of 54.84%. The business had revenue of $755.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $754.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Vontier Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vontier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Vontier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.62%.

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.