VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) Shares Gap Up - What's Next?

Key Points

• VersaBank shares gapped up before Friday’s open, opening at $20.79 after closing at $19.83, and were last trading around $19.89.
• Analyst sentiment was mixed but generally positive: Zacks upgraded the stock to Strong Buy, Roth Capital raised its rating to Buy and lifted its price target to $25, while Weiss Ratings downgraded it to Hold.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, reported a $0.28 EPS versus $0.26 expected, and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.025 per share payable July 31.

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $19.83, but opened at $20.79. VersaBank shares last traded at $19.8870, with a volume of 9,552 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VBNK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VersaBank from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings lowered VersaBank from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded VersaBank from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $25.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $25.00.

VersaBank Stock Up 0.5%

The firm's fifty day moving average is $19.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.28. The firm has a market cap of $641.91 million, a P/E ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 1.04.

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 3rd. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $28.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.86 million. VersaBank had a net margin of 9.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that VersaBank will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

VersaBank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. VersaBank's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.14%.

Institutional Trading of VersaBank

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VBNK. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of VersaBank by 29.7% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 112,700 shares of the company's stock worth $1,597,000 after acquiring an additional 25,800 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of VersaBank by 100.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 36,578 shares of the company's stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 18,289 shares in the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp boosted its position in shares of VersaBank by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 1,057,693 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,392,000 after purchasing an additional 26,559 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in VersaBank in the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in VersaBank in the fourth quarter worth $587,000. 56.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About VersaBank

VersaBank is a Canadian Schedule I chartered bank that operates as a fully digital institution, offering a range of deposit and lending solutions through its proprietary technology platform. Headquartered in London, Ontario, the bank has chosen to forego a traditional branch network in favor of online and digital distribution, enabling it to serve clients across Canada and the United States with efficiency and lower overhead.

The bank’s primary business activities include the origination and securitization of commercial loans, equipment financing, residential mortgages and construction loans.

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