VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) Stock Price Up 4.7% – Should You Buy?

Shares of VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) were up 4.7% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $22.88 and last traded at $23.08. 48,355 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 90,893 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VBNK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Roth Capital boosted 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. Raymond James Financial set a $20.00 price objective on VersaBank in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VersaBank from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut VersaBank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

VersaBank Stock Down 2.6%

The business has a 50-day moving average of $21.25 and a 200-day moving average of $19.54. The stock has a market cap of $719.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20 and a beta of 1.04.

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.76 million. Equities analysts anticipate that VersaBank will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

VersaBank Dividend Announcement

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 paid a C$0.03 dividend. 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%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of VersaBank in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,781,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in VersaBank in the second quarter valued at about $16,364,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of VersaBank during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,171,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in VersaBank by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 187,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,429,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brasada Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in VersaBank in the second quarter worth $1,606,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.86% of the company’s stock.

About VersaBank

VersaBank is a digital-first, Schedule I chartered bank headquartered in London, Ontario, Canada. The bank operates primarily through electronic channels rather than a traditional branch network and gathers deposits through financial intermediaries, including deposit brokers and other financial institutions.

The company provides commercial lending and deposit products to businesses, financial intermediaries and specialty finance companies. Its lending activities include point-of-sale financing, commercial real estate and other asset-backed loans, as well as financing for public-sector and municipal projects.