VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $242.54 and last traded at $241.82, with a volume of 530415 shares. The stock had previously closed at $221.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of VSE from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research downgraded VSE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of VSE from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Truist Financial raised shares of VSE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on VSE from $263.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.22.

VSE Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a PE ratio of 74.01, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $209.12 and its 200-day moving average is $200.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The construction company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.82. VSE had a return on equity of 6.71% and a net margin of 6.17%.The company had revenue of $449.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $425.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 65.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that VSE Corporation will post 4.8 EPS for the current year.

VSE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. VSE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Benjamin E. Thomas sold 6,500 shares of the 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 represents a 13.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VSE

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VSEC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of VSE during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,103,000. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of VSE by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 314,789 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $58,047,000 after acquiring an additional 35,246 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of VSE by 10.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 346,390 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,563,000 after purchasing an additional 32,489 shares in the last quarter. Kendall Capital Management bought a new stake in VSE during the second quarter valued at about $7,355,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in VSE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,782,000. 91.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.