Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT) saw a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,250,000 shares, a drop of 13.1% from the August 31st total of 4,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 891,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Vontier Stock Up 1.3 %

VNT opened at $33.88 on Monday. Vontier has a one year low of $28.84 and a one year high of $45.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.50.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.08). Vontier had a net margin of 13.43% and a return on equity of 49.17%. The firm had revenue of $696.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. Vontier’s revenue was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Vontier will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Vontier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. Vontier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vontier

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Vontier by 305.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 902,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,473,000 after buying an additional 679,651 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vontier in the first quarter valued at about $27,770,000. Stanley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vontier in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $17,954,000. Eldred Rock Partners LLC acquired a new position in Vontier during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,613,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Vontier by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,695,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,898,000 after buying an additional 329,191 shares in the last quarter. 95.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VNT shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Vontier from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Vontier from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Argus cut shares of Vontier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Vontier from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.25.

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.