VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) Shares Down 6.9% – Time to Sell?

VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC)’s share price fell 6.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $211.87 and last traded at $209.4580. 129,465 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 646,404 shares. The stock had previously closed at $225.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VSEC. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of VSE in a report on Monday, December 29th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of VSE in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of VSE from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of VSE from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their price target on shares of VSE from $208.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.29.

VSE Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 3.76. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 206.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.58.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The construction company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.28. VSE had a net margin of 1.84% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The company had revenue of $301.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.55 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. VSE’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that VSE Corporation will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

VSE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. VSE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.94%.

Institutional Trading of VSE

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSEC. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VSE by 26.2% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 394,499 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $65,582,000 after acquiring an additional 81,788 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of VSE by 31.2% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 247,417 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,131,000 after acquiring an additional 58,805 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VSE by 1,331.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 59,642 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $10,304,000 after acquiring an additional 55,474 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of VSE by 10.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 346,390 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,563,000 after acquiring an additional 32,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VSE by 56.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 50,422 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,050,000 after acquiring an additional 18,220 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.54% of the company’s stock.

VSE Company Profile

VSE Corporation (NASDAQ: VSEC) is a provider of aftermarket distribution and supply chain management services serving both government and commercial markets. The company’s solutions span a wide range of industries, with particular emphasis on defense, aerospace and transportation. VSE’s core mission is to ensure mission readiness by delivering critical parts, maintenance and technical support for equipment throughout its lifecycle.

Through its Distribution Services segment, VSE sources, markets and distributes replacement parts and components for commercial truck, bus, rail and specialty vehicle applications.