Robert W. Baird Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Vontier (NYSE:VNT) Stock

Key Points

• Robert W. Baird has raised its price target for Vontier (NYSE:VNT) from $40.00 to $45.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.52% from its current stock price.
• Several other analysts have also upgraded their ratings on Vontier, with Barclays increasing their price objective to $48.00 and Citigroup hiking their target from $37.00 to $45.00.
• Vontier reported earnings of $0.79 per share, surpassing consensus estimates, and achieved a revenue of $773.50 million for the quarter, surpassing expectations by approximately $39.27 million.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT - Free Report) had its price target raised by Robert W. Baird from $40.00 to $45.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on VNT. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $37.00) on shares of Vontier in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vontier from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Vontier from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Vontier from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Vontier in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.14.

Vontier Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of VNT stock traded up $0.17 on Monday, reaching $40.54. 871,563 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 984,370. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $37.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.78. Vontier has a 52 week low of $27.22 and a 52 week high of $42.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.31.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $773.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $734.23 million. Vontier had a return on equity of 41.96% and a net margin of 12.99%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Vontier will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Vontier Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. Vontier's payout ratio is currently 3.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kathryn K. Rowen sold 7,344 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.34, for a total transaction of $266,880.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 88,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,206,932.32. This represents a 7.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VNT. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vontier by 39.7% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,515,334 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,479,000 after acquiring an additional 999,755 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Vontier by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,390,111 shares of the company's stock worth $111,365,000 after purchasing an additional 66,620 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Vontier by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,815,287 shares of the company's stock worth $92,483,000 after purchasing an additional 143,737 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Vontier by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,666,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,260,000 after purchasing an additional 75,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vontier by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,540,329 shares of the company's stock worth $92,646,000 after buying an additional 20,649 shares during the last quarter. 95.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.