Fred Alger Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in VSE Corporation $VSEC

Fred Alger Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 368,313 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 26,186 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC owned about 1.60% of VSE worth $63,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of VSE by 145.7% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 258 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of VSE in the 1st quarter worth approximately $247,000. Ellevest Inc. bought a new position in shares of VSE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $323,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of VSE by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,207 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of VSE by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 5,600 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $968,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Benjamin E. Thomas sold 6,500 shares of VSE stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.82, for a total transaction of $1,279,330.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 42,839 shares in the company, valued at $8,431,571.98. This trade represents a 13.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VSE Price Performance

NASDAQ VSEC opened at $199.12 on Wednesday. VSE Corporation has a 12 month low of $123.69 and a 12 month high of $232.61. The stock has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.02, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $187.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $192.21. The company has a current ratio of 8.78, a quick ratio of 6.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The construction company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.24. VSE had a net margin of 4.95% and a return on equity of 6.56%. The company had revenue of $324.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $309.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 26.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that VSE Corporation will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

VSE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. VSE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VSEC shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of VSE from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of VSE from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $268.00 price objective on shares of VSE in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of VSE from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of VSE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.13.

About VSE

VSE Corporation (NASDAQ: VSEC) is a provider of aftermarket distribution and supply chain management services serving both government and commercial markets. The company’s solutions span a wide range of industries, with particular emphasis on defense, aerospace and transportation. VSE’s core mission is to ensure mission readiness by delivering critical parts, maintenance and technical support for equipment throughout its lifecycle.

Through its Distribution Services segment, VSE sources, markets and distributes replacement parts and components for commercial truck, bus, rail and specialty vehicle applications.