Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 81,497 Shares of Vermilion Energy Inc. (NYSE:VET)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vermilion Energy Inc. (NYSE:VET - Free Report) TSE: VET by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,758,056 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after buying an additional 81,497 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 3.53% of Vermilion Energy worth $84,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd purchased a new position in Vermilion Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new position in Vermilion Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Vermilion Energy by 99.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,362 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Vermilion Energy by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 6,732 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,932 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Vermilion Energy by 8,245.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,757 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares during the period. 31.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, TD Securities raised shares of Vermilion Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $25.00.

Vermilion Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:VET traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $12.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 943,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,957. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.29 and a 200-day moving average of $12.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.44 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Vermilion Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.81 and a 12-month high of $15.98.

Vermilion Energy (NYSE:VET - Get Free Report) TSE: VET last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $384.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.92 million. Vermilion Energy had a negative net margin of 11.40% and a positive return on equity of 15.75%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vermilion Energy Inc. will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Vermilion Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.0888 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. This is an increase from Vermilion Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Vermilion Energy's dividend payout ratio is -26.13%.

About Vermilion Energy

Vermilion Energy Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of petroleum and natural gas. The company has properties in West Central Alberta, southeast Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and West Pembina in Canada; Wyoming in the United States; southwest Bordeaux and Paris Basin in France; the Netherlands; Germany; Ireland; Croatia; Slovakia; and Australia.