AQR Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Vontier Corporation $VNT

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Vontier Corporation by 8.6%, now holding 360,190 shares worth approximately $11.73 million.
• Analysts have shown increased confidence in Vontier, with several upgrades, including a "strong-buy" rating from Wall Street Zen and a price target of $47.50.
• Vontier recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.025 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.2%.

AQR Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Vontier Corporation (NYSE:VNT - Free Report) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 360,190 shares of the company's stock after selling 34,058 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.24% of Vontier worth $11,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in Vontier by 586.2% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 844 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Vontier during the first quarter worth $36,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Vontier during the first quarter worth $64,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Vontier during the fourth quarter worth $73,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Vontier by 60.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,209 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 829 shares during the period. 95.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VNT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vontier from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of Vontier from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Vontier in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vontier in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Vontier in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.50.

Vontier Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VNT opened at $42.95 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Vontier Corporation has a 52 week low of $27.22 and a 52 week high of $43.78.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $773.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $734.23 million. Vontier had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 41.96%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. Vontier has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.100-3.200 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.740-0.780 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Vontier Corporation will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vontier Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Vontier's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.80%.

Vontier 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.