Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 4,980 Shares of Vontier Corporation (NYSE:VNT)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vontier Corporation (NYSE:VNT) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 359,903 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,980 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Vontier worth $11,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vontier during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vontier during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Vontier by 60.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new stake in Vontier during the first quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Vontier by 66.8% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. 95.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on VNT. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Vontier in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vontier from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Vontier from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $37.00) on shares of Vontier in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Vontier from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.33.

Vontier Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of VNT opened at $40.35 on Friday. Vontier Corporation has a 12 month low of $27.22 and a 12 month high of $42.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.44 and its 200-day moving average is $35.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $773.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $734.23 million. Vontier had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 41.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Vontier Corporation will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Vontier Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Vontier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.07%.

Insider Activity

In other Vontier news, SVP Kathryn K. Rowen sold 7,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.34, for a total value of $266,880.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 88,248 shares in the company, valued at $3,206,932.32. This trade represents a 7.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.97% 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.