Short Interest in VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) Rises By 47.9%

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) saw a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 32,400 shares, a growth of 47.9% from the October 31st total of 21,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 44,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days. Currently, 0.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VersaBank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pembroke Management LTD acquired a new position in shares of VersaBank in the second quarter valued at about $377,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in VersaBank by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 100,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 34,462 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of VersaBank by 44.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 50,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 15,462 shares during the last quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of VersaBank by 4.1% in the second quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 82,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 3,234 shares during the period. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp raised its holdings in shares of VersaBank by 6.1% during the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 84,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $904,000 after purchasing an additional 4,817 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VBNK. Roth Mkm began coverage on VersaBank in a report on Friday, September 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target (up from $15.00) on shares of VersaBank in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Roth Capital raised shares of VersaBank to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of VersaBank in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $19.00.

VersaBank Price Performance

NASDAQ VBNK traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,254. VersaBank has a fifty-two week low of $7.74 and a fifty-two week high of $18.38. The company has a market cap of $467.74 million, a PE ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.65.

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.08). VersaBank had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 16.24%. The company had revenue of $19.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.83 million. Analysts expect that VersaBank will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VersaBank Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.018 per share. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. VersaBank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.38%.

VersaBank Company Profile

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.