Short Interest in Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT) Decreases By 14.0%

Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,330,000 shares, a drop of 14.0% from the December 15th total of 2,710,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 841,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VNT. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Vontier from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Vontier from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. UBS Group assumed coverage on Vontier in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Vontier from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.63.

Institutional Trading of Vontier

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VNT. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Vontier by 2,976.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vontier during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Vontier in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Vontier by 37.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Vontier by 10.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. 95.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vontier Stock Performance

VNT stock traded up $0.38 on Thursday, reaching $37.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 543,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 627,485. Vontier has a 52 week low of $31.22 and a 52 week high of $45.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.27.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.04. Vontier had a return on equity of 45.48% and a net margin of 13.54%. The company had revenue of $750.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $729.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Vontier will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vontier Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. Vontier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.83%.

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.