Renaissance Technologies LLC Increases Position in VersaBank $VBNK

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) by 29.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,700 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,800 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.35% of VersaBank worth $1,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of VersaBank by 107.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 56,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 29,169 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in VersaBank in the second quarter valued at $293,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in VersaBank by 33.0% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 20,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 5,144 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in VersaBank by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,840,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,383,000 after buying an additional 29,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp lifted its holdings in VersaBank by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 1,052,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,000,000 after buying an additional 40,127 shares during the last quarter. 56.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Capital upgraded VersaBank from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $25.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings cut VersaBank from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised VersaBank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VersaBank presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

VersaBank Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:VBNK opened at $19.50 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.67. The company has a market capitalization of $630.43 million, a PE ratio of 28.26 and a beta of 1.06. VersaBank has a 52-week low of $10.24 and a 52-week high of $25.05.

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

VersaBank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. VersaBank’s payout ratio is presently 10.14%.

VersaBank Company Profile

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.