VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 32,400 shares, a growth of 88.4% from the March 15th total of 17,200 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 29,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Institutional Trading of VersaBank

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VBNK. Prelude Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of VersaBank by 30.3% in the first quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 16,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of VersaBank by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,151,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,036,000 after purchasing an additional 115,141 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VersaBank during the 4th quarter worth $142,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of VersaBank by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 56,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of VersaBank by 34.9% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 17,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 4,398 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, TheStreet raised VersaBank from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st.

VersaBank Price Performance

Shares of VBNK stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $10.03. The company had a trading volume of 49,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,657. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.66. VersaBank has a 52-week low of $6.36 and a 52-week high of $12.19. The stock has a market cap of $260.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 0.77.

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 6th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.05. VersaBank had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 12.14%. The firm had revenue of $21.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.05 million. Analysts anticipate that VersaBank will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

VersaBank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.0184 dividend. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. VersaBank’s payout ratio is 3.15%.

About VersaBank

VersaBank provides various banking products and services in Canada and the United States. It offers deposit products, such as web-based chequing accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, registered retirement savings plans, and tax-free savings accounts, as well as deposit insurance products. The company also provides lending services, including point of sale financing that covers purchasing loan and lease receivables from finance companies operating in various industries; commercial banking services comprising commercial real estate, public sector/infrastructure financing, and condominium financing; and residential mortgages.