VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) Short Interest Up 48.5% in September

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 180,300 shares, a growth of 48.5% from the September 15th total of 121,400 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 76,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Based on an average trading volume of 76,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

VersaBank Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ VBNK opened at $11.82 on Friday. VersaBank has a twelve month low of $8.51 and a twelve month high of $18.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $11.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.38. The company has a market capitalization of $380.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38 and a beta of 0.98.

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.02. VersaBank had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 7.47%. The company had revenue of $22.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.01 million. As a group, research analysts predict that VersaBank will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

VersaBank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. VersaBank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of VersaBank by 46.4% in the first quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 590,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,119,000 after purchasing an additional 187,160 shares in the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp lifted its position in shares of VersaBank by 14.1% in the first quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 1,012,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,490,000 after purchasing an additional 125,270 shares in the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of VersaBank by 19.6% in the first quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 761,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,891,000 after purchasing an additional 125,000 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of VersaBank by 66.2% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 289,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,964,000 after purchasing an additional 115,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of VersaBank by 3.8% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,811,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,122,000 after purchasing an additional 102,298 shares in the last quarter. 56.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of VersaBank in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of VersaBank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of VersaBank from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, VersaBank currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.27.

VersaBank Company Profile

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.