VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $258.12.

VSEC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on VSE from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VSE in a report on Friday, October 16th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of VSE in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VSE in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of VSE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th.

VSE Stock Performance

VSEC opened at $148.45 on Wednesday. VSE has a 1 year low of $138.85 and a 1 year high of $247.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.00.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The construction company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.82. The business had revenue of $449.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.03 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 65.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that VSE will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current year.

VSE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John Cuomo sold 1,566 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.49, for a total transaction of $293,609.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 167,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,492,882.79. This represents a 0.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its holdings in VSE by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 314,789 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $58,047,000 after acquiring an additional 35,246 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust raised its position in VSE by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 195,915 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,127,000 after purchasing an additional 27,563 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in VSE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,103,000. American Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in VSE during the 2nd quarter worth $29,461,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in VSE in the 2nd quarter valued at $22,888,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.54% of the company’s stock.

About VSE

VSE Corporation is a diversified provider of aftermarket distribution, maintenance, repair, overhaul, engineering, logistics and other sustainment services for government and commercial customers. The company supports complex assets and supply chains, with activities spanning aviation, defense, transportation and fleet markets.

Through its aviation businesses, VSE distributes aircraft parts and provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services for commercial, general aviation, business and government aircraft.