WINTON GROUP Ltd Makes New Investment in Versant Corporation $VSNT

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Versant Corporation (NASDAQ:VSNT) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 77,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,781,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Versant by 3,358.7% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,971,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,051,000 after acquiring an additional 5,799,303 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new stake in Versant during the first quarter worth approximately $41,747,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Versant during the first quarter worth approximately $26,331,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Versant during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,317,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Versant during the first quarter valued at approximately $24,475,000.

Versant Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VSNT opened at $37.19 on Friday. Versant Corporation has a 12 month low of $27.17 and a 12 month high of $59.00. The company has a market cap of $5.16 billion and a P/E ratio of 10.69. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Versant (NASDAQ:VSNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts expect that Versant Corporation will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Versant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Versant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Versant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Versant from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Versant in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Versant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Versant from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Versant has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.20.

About Versant

Versant is a media and entertainment company formed through the separation of Comcast’s cable-network and digital-media businesses. The company operates a portfolio of television networks and related platforms that provide news, sports, entertainment and lifestyle programming to audiences in the United States and internationally.

Its brands include USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, E!, Syfy, Oxygen and Golf Channel. Versant also has digital and consumer-facing businesses associated with its media portfolio, including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes and Xumo.