Vishay Precision Group (NYSE:VPG) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (NYSE:VPG) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $56.70 and last traded at $54.6040, with a volume of 178408 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on VPG shares. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $63.00 price target (up from $45.00) on shares of Vishay Precision Group in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Lake Street Capital set a $54.00 price target on shares of Vishay Precision Group and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Vishay Precision Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vishay Precision Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vishay Precision Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

Vishay Precision Group Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a current ratio of 4.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $771.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.89.

Vishay Precision Group (NYSE:VPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $80.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.08 million. Vishay Precision Group had a net margin of 1.72% and a return on equity of 2.16%. Equities research analysts expect that Vishay Precision Group, Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VPG. Acuitas Investments LLC boosted its stake in Vishay Precision Group by 1,319.6% during the 3rd quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 1,012,976 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,466,000 after purchasing an additional 941,622 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in Vishay Precision Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,822,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Vishay Precision Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,732,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Vishay Precision Group by 120.7% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 311,377 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $11,988,000 after purchasing an additional 170,307 shares during the period. Finally, Bastion Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Vishay Precision Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,904,000. 87.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Vishay Precision Group

Vishay Precision Group (NYSE: VPG) specializes in the design, manufacture and calibration of precision sensors, instrumentation and measurement systems used in a broad range of applications. Its product portfolio includes load cells, tension links, weighing modules, torque transducers, digital indicators and data acquisition systems. These solutions serve critical requirements for accuracy, reliability and repeatability in sectors such as industrial automation, test and measurement, medical devices, food and beverage processing, aerospace and defense.

The company traces its roots to the sensor and measurement division of Vishay Intertechnology, Inc, from which it was spun off as an independent public company in March 2016.