FIL Ltd Lowers Stake in VSE Co. (NASDAQ:VSEC)

FIL Ltd reduced its position in VSE Co. (NASDAQ:VSEC) by 53.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 260,402 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 302,766 shares during the period. FIL Ltd’s holdings in VSE were worth $24,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in VSE by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,310 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of VSE by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 8,753 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of VSE by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of VSE by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,021 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in VSE by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,955 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. 91.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on VSEC. Truist Financial upped their price target on VSE from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VSE to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.67.

VSE Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VSEC opened at $110.43 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.05 and a beta of 1.32. VSE Co. has a 1 year low of $73.36 and a 1 year high of $128.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The construction company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.17. VSE had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 7.26%. The company had revenue of $299.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.97 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that VSE Co. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VSE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. VSE’s dividend payout ratio is 48.19%.

VSE Profile

VSE Corporation operates as a diversified aftermarket products and services company in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Aviation and Fleet. The Aviation segment provides aftermarket parts supply and distribution; maintenance, repair, and overhaul services for components and engine accessories supporting commercial, business, and general aviation operators.