VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) Short Interest Update

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) saw a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 48,200 shares, a drop of 39.0% from the January 15th total of 79,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 111,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.4 days. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VersaBank

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VBNK. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in VersaBank by 73.2% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,708,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,620 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of VersaBank during the 4th quarter worth $5,886,000. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in VersaBank in the 4th quarter worth about $5,588,000. Pembroke Management LTD raised its stake in VersaBank by 554.2% in the 4th quarter. Pembroke Management LTD now owns 332,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,609,000 after acquiring an additional 281,900 shares during the period. Finally, TCW Group Inc. purchased a new stake in VersaBank during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,155,000. Institutional investors own 56.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (up from $15.00) on shares of VersaBank in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

VersaBank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VBNK opened at $13.62 on Thursday. VersaBank has a 1 year low of $9.48 and a 1 year high of $18.38. The company has a market capitalization of $442.81 million, a PE ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $14.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.09.

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. VersaBank had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.20%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that VersaBank will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

VersaBank Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.0177 per share. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. VersaBank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.45%.

About VersaBank

VersaBank provides various banking products and services in Canada and the United States. It offers deposit products, such as web-based chequing accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, registered retirement savings plans, and tax-free savings accounts, as well as deposit insurance products. The company also provides lending services, including point of sale financing that covers purchasing loan and lease receivables from finance companies operating in various industries; commercial banking services comprising commercial real estate, public sector/infrastructure financing, and condominium financing; and residential mortgages.