Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $3.4333.

Several equities analysts have commented on SPCE shares. Wall Street Zen raised Virgin Galactic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Virgin Galactic from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Virgin Galactic from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Virgin Galactic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th.

Virgin Galactic Stock Down 0.6%

SPCE stock opened at $2.58 on Friday. Virgin Galactic has a fifty-two week low of $2.13 and a fifty-two week high of $8.90. The company has a market capitalization of $259.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.59 and a beta of 2.74. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $3.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.86) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $0.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.20 million. Virgin Galactic had a negative return on equity of 103.89% and a negative net margin of 19,781.30%. As a group, analysts forecast that Virgin Galactic will post -2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Virgin Galactic

In related news, Director Diana S. Strandberg purchased 20,000 shares of Virgin Galactic stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $2.49 per share, for a total transaction of $49,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 70,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $176,615.70. The trade was a 39.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Virgin Galactic

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Virgin Galactic in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Vista Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Virgin Galactic during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Virgin Galactic during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. purchased a new position in Virgin Galactic in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Pitcairn Co. purchased a new position in Virgin Galactic in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 46.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Virgin Galactic Company Profile

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc (NYSE: SPCE) is a commercial spaceflight company developing and operating spacecraft for private individuals and research customers. The firm’s primary business is suborbital human spaceflight, offering passengers a brief trip to the edge of space aboard its reusable spaceplane. In parallel, the company is building out infrastructure and support services for suborbital payload deployments and microgravity research missions.

The core flight system consists of a carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, which lifts the spaceplane SpaceShipTwo to high altitude before release.