Wellington Management Group LLP Buys New Holdings in VersaBank $VBNK

Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 265,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,171,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VBNK. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of VersaBank by 107.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 56,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 29,169 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VersaBank during the 2nd quarter worth $293,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of VersaBank by 33.0% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 20,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 5,144 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of VersaBank by 1.1% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,840,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,383,000 after purchasing an additional 29,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp increased its holdings in VersaBank by 4.0% in the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 1,052,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,000,000 after buying an additional 40,127 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on VBNK shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VersaBank in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Roth Capital upped their price objective on VersaBank from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded VersaBank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $20.00 target price on VersaBank in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, VersaBank currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

VersaBank Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of VersaBank stock opened at $21.70 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.26. The stock has a market cap of $701.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55 and a beta of 1.06. VersaBank has a 12-month low of $11.25 and a 12-month high of $25.05.

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.07). VersaBank had a return on equity of 8.66% and a net margin of 9.92%.The company had revenue of $27.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.76 million. On average, analysts forecast that VersaBank will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VersaBank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. VersaBank’s payout ratio is 9.21%.

VersaBank Company Profile

VersaBank is a Canadian Schedule I chartered bank that operates as a fully digital institution, offering a range of deposit and lending solutions through its proprietary technology platform. Headquartered in London, Ontario, the bank has chosen to forego a traditional branch network in favor of online and digital distribution, enabling it to serve clients across Canada and the United States with efficiency and lower overhead.

The bank’s primary business activities include the origination and securitization of commercial loans, equipment financing, residential mortgages and construction loans.