Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 256,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,363,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vontier by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 117,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,950,000 after purchasing an additional 4,116 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Vontier by 475.4% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 3,722 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Vontier by 1.6% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 148,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,020,000 after buying an additional 2,293 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Vontier during the third quarter worth about $344,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vontier in the 3rd quarter valued at about $573,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on VNT shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vontier from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Vontier from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group began coverage on Vontier in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on Vontier from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Vontier from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vontier currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.67.

Vontier Trading Down 0.6 %

VNT opened at $33.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $36.82 and a 200-day moving average of $36.34. Vontier Co. has a 52 week low of $31.22 and a 52 week high of $45.62.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $776.80 million during the quarter. Vontier had a return on equity of 43.22% and a net margin of 14.17%. Equities research analysts predict that Vontier Co. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vontier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Vontier’s payout ratio is 3.64%.

Vontier Profile

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.