Vontier (NYSE:VNT) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $34.08, but opened at $36.29. Vontier shares last traded at $37.06, with a volume of 57,028 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VNT shares. Argus cut shares of Vontier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Vontier from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Barclays dropped their price target on Vontier from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Vontier from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vontier has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.25.

Vontier Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.98.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $696.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $746.43 million. Vontier had a net margin of 13.43% and a return on equity of 49.17%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vontier Co. will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Vontier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. Vontier's dividend payout ratio is presently 3.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vontier

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Vontier by 305.1% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 902,432 shares of the company's stock worth $34,473,000 after buying an additional 679,651 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Vontier in the 2nd quarter worth about $17,954,000. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Vontier by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,356,558 shares of the company's stock worth $79,510,000 after buying an additional 415,750 shares in the last quarter. Eldred Rock Partners LLC bought a new stake in Vontier in the 2nd quarter worth about $14,613,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Vontier by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,695,280 shares of the company's stock worth $76,898,000 after buying an additional 329,191 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.83% of the company's stock.

About Vontier

Vontier Corporation provides mobility ecosystem solutions worldwide. The company operates through Mobility Technologies, Repair Solutions, and Environmental and Fueling Solutions segments. The Mobility Technologies segment provides digitally equipment solutions for mobility ecosystem, such as point-of-sale and payment systems, workflow automation, telematics, data analytics, software platform, and integrated solutions for alternative fuel dispensing.