Virco Mfg. Co. (NASDAQ:VIRC) Short Interest Update

Virco Mfg. Co. (NASDAQ:VIRC) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, a drop of 18.2% from the January 15th total of 1,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 164,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.6 days. Approximately 8.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Virco Mfg.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VIRC. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Virco Mfg. in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Virco Mfg. by 129.1% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 6,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 3,511 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Virco Mfg. in the third quarter valued at about $90,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Virco Mfg. during the fourth quarter worth about $70,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Virco Mfg. during the fourth quarter worth about $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on VIRC shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Virco Mfg. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Virco Mfg. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

Virco Mfg. Price Performance

Shares of VIRC traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $11.67. 120,917 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 121,521. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.10 million, a PE ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 0.76. Virco Mfg. has a fifty-two week low of $8.75 and a fifty-two week high of $18.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.63.

Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.35). Virco Mfg. had a net margin of 8.93% and a return on equity of 24.63%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Virco Mfg. will post 1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virco Mfg. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Virco Mfg.’s payout ratio is 6.45%.

Virco Mfg. announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 21st that permits the company to buyback $10.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Virco Mfg.

Virco Mfg. Corporation engages in the design, production, and distribution of furniture in the United States and Canada. The company offers seating products, including 4-leg chairs, cantilever chairs, mobile task chairs and lab stools, tablet armchairs, steel-frame and floor rockers, series stools, hard plastic seating, folding and upholstered stack chairs, and plastic stack and upholstered ergonomic chairs.