Virco Mfg. Co. (NASDAQ:VIRC) Short Interest Up 82.0% in July

Virco Mfg. Co. (NASDAQ:VIRC) saw a significant growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,030,000 shares, a growth of 82.0% from the June 30th total of 565,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 251,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days. Currently, 7.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Virco Mfg. Price Performance

VIRC traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $16.92. The stock had a trading volume of 60,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 222,690. The company has a market cap of $274.27 million, a P/E ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 0.67. Virco Mfg. has a 1 year low of $4.33 and a 1 year high of $17.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 2.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $14.14 and a 200 day moving average of $12.06.

Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 7th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $46.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.70 million. Virco Mfg. had a return on equity of 28.41% and a net margin of 9.07%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Virco Mfg. will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virco Mfg. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 21st were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 21st. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Virco Mfg.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virco Mfg.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Virco Mfg. during the first quarter valued at approximately $675,000. Bailard Inc. bought a new position in Virco Mfg. in the fourth quarter worth $190,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Virco Mfg. in the first quarter worth $90,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in Virco Mfg. in the fourth quarter worth $309,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in Virco Mfg. in the fourth quarter worth $160,000. Institutional investors own 30.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (up previously from $16.00) on shares of Virco Mfg. in a research note on Friday, June 7th. StockNews.com lowered Virco Mfg. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Virco Mfg. Company Profile

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.