VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) Short Interest Update

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 333,727 shares, a growth of 47.9% from the August 31st total of 225,630 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 159,860 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Institutional Trading of VersaBank

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VersaBank by 0.3% in the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 187,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,429,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. bought a new position in VersaBank during the second quarter valued at approximately $239,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in VersaBank during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in VersaBank by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 36,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 18,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in VersaBank by 29.7% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 112,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,597,000 after acquiring an additional 25,800 shares during the last quarter. 56.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VBNK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial set a $20.00 target price on shares of VersaBank in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Roth Capital lifted their price target on shares of VersaBank from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of VersaBank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded VersaBank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

VersaBank Stock Down 0.5%

VBNK stock opened at $22.11 on Friday. VersaBank has a twelve month low of $11.25 and a twelve month high of $25.05. The stock has a market cap of $714.82 million, a P/E ratio of 29.09 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $20.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.06.

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 3rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.07). VersaBank had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The company had revenue of $27.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.76 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that VersaBank will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VersaBank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a C$0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. VersaBank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.21%.

About VersaBank

VersaBank is a technology-focused bank headquartered in London, Ontario, Canada. The company operates a digital banking model that uses technology to deliver lending and deposit services without relying on a large traditional branch network.

The bank provides commercial lending, residential and consumer financing, and deposit products. Its specialty finance activities include purchasing and funding loan portfolios originated by third-party financial institutions and other businesses, including point-of-sale financing providers.