Zacks Research Upgrades VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) to “Strong-Buy”

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

VSEC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on VSE from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of VSE from $263.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VSE from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of VSE from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on VSE in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $260.00.

VSE Stock Performance

VSE stock opened at $168.48 on Monday. VSE has a fifty-two week low of $154.67 and a fifty-two week high of $247.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 3.77. The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.00, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.27.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The construction company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.82. VSE had a return on equity of 6.71% and a net margin of 6.17%.The firm had revenue of $449.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 65.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that VSE will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VSE news, CEO John Cuomo sold 1,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.49, for a total transaction of $293,609.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 167,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,492,882.79. This trade represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of VSE in the second quarter worth approximately $2,545,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of VSE during the 2nd quarter worth $2,783,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of VSE during the 2nd quarter valued at $13,164,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC raised its holdings in VSE by 956.5% in the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 37,536 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,577,000 after purchasing an additional 33,983 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in VSE in the 2nd quarter worth $1,120,000. Institutional investors own 91.54% of the company’s stock.

VSE Company Profile

VSE Corporation is a diversified provider of aftermarket distribution, maintenance, repair, engineering and logistics services. The company serves U.S. government agencies, defense organizations and commercial customers through specialized operating businesses focused on aviation, fleet management and federal services.

VSE Aviation distributes aircraft parts and related products and provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services for engines, components and other aviation systems. Its Fleet segment supports vehicle lifecycle management by supplying parts and providing maintenance, engineering and logistics services for government and commercial fleets.