VNET Group, Inc. - Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VNET) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy”: Four of six analysts recommend buying VNET, while one rates it a hold and one a sell. The average 12-month price target is $16.90.
• VNET opened at $6.64, near the lower end of its 52-week range of $5.91 to $14.48. Its latest quarterly results missed EPS estimates, although revenue exceeded forecasts, and the company reported negative margins and return on equity.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.83% of VNET’s stock, with several major investors—including Carmignac Gestion and Temasek—substantially increasing their positions.

VNET Group, Inc. - Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VNET - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.90.

VNET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on VNET Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $12.50 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of VNET Group in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings cut VNET Group from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of VNET Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th.

VNET Group Stock Performance

VNET opened at $6.64 on Monday. VNET Group has a twelve month low of $5.91 and a twelve month high of $14.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $6.86 and a 200-day moving average of $8.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of -4.68 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.35.

VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 19th. The information technology services provider reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.04). VNET Group had a negative net margin of 22.29% and a negative return on equity of 36.25%. The firm had revenue of $409.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $401.77 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that VNET Group will post -0.48 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VNET Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Triata Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of VNET Group by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Triata Capital Ltd now owns 12,498,810 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $105,740,000 after buying an additional 550,841 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in VNET Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,650,000. Infini Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in VNET Group in the second quarter worth approximately $38,883,000. Carmignac Gestion boosted its holdings in VNET Group by 1,375.1% in the second quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 4,760,599 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $38,123,000 after acquiring an additional 4,437,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its stake in VNET Group by 988.7% in the fourth quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 3,253,150 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $27,522,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954,350 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.83% of the company's stock.

VNET Group Company Profile

VNET Group, Inc NASDAQ: VNET, formerly known as 21Vianet Group, is a China-based provider of data center and information technology infrastructure services. The company operates carrier-neutral data centers that support enterprise customers, cloud service providers, internet companies, financial institutions and other organizations requiring secure, reliable computing and network capacity.

Its services include data center hosting and colocation, managed network services, cloud computing infrastructure, internet connectivity, content delivery and related information technology solutions.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.