Vontier (NYSE:VNT) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $40.32, but opened at $38.55. Vontier shares last traded at $38.22, with a volume of 908,712 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on VNT shares. Wolfe Research raised Vontier from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup cut their price target on Vontier from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Vontier in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Vontier from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Vontier from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.43.

Vontier Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $37.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.26.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $776.80 million during the quarter. Vontier had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 43.22%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vontier Co. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vontier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Vontier’s payout ratio is 3.64%.

Institutional Trading of Vontier

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VNT. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vontier by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 12,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its holdings in Vontier by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 17,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Vontier by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. increased its holdings in Vontier by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 61,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,232,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Vontier by 37.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.83% of the company’s stock.

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.