VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) Shares Up 7.6% – What’s Next?

VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC) shares rose 7.6% during trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $158.07 and last traded at $159.0210. Approximately 26,822 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 531,348 shares. The stock had previously closed at $147.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VSEC. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 target price on shares of VSE in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on VSE from $265.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on VSE in a research note on Monday, September 14th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on VSE from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on VSE from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.38.

VSE Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $176.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.73. The firm has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a PE ratio of 52.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 3.77.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The construction company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.82. The business had revenue of $449.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $425.03 million. VSE had a return on equity of 6.71% and a net margin of 6.17%. The company’s revenue was up 65.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that VSE Corporation will post 6.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VSE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 15th. VSE’s payout ratio is presently 12.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VSE news, CEO John Cuomo sold 1,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.49, for a total value of $293,609.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 167,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,492,882.79. This represents a 0.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in VSE in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,103,000. American Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in VSE during the second quarter worth $29,461,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VSE during the third quarter worth $21,218,000. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in VSE during the second quarter worth $22,888,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of VSE in the second quarter worth $18,721,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.54% of the company’s stock.

About VSE

VSE Corporation is a diversified provider of aftermarket distribution, maintenance, repair, overhaul, engineering, logistics and other sustainment services for government and commercial customers. The company supports complex assets and supply chains, with activities spanning aviation, defense, transportation and fleet markets.

Through its aviation businesses, VSE distributes aircraft parts and provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services for commercial, general aviation, business and government aircraft.