Leuthold Group LLC Grows Holdings in Visteon Corporation $VC

Key Points

• Leuthold Group LLC boosted its stake in Visteon by 54.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 40,502 shares valued at about $3.85 million.
• Analysts remain generally positive on Visteon, with nine Buy ratings and five Hold ratings; the consensus price target is $124.42.
• Visteon reported quarterly EPS of $1.65, missing estimates, while revenue came in at $954 million and the company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.375 per share.

Leuthold Group LLC increased its position in Visteon Corporation (NASDAQ:VC - Free Report) by 54.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,502 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,319 shares during the quarter. Leuthold Group LLC owned about 0.15% of Visteon worth $3,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Visteon by 144.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 288 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in Visteon during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Visteon during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Visteon by 72.0% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 423 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Visteon during the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 99.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Visteon from $106.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Visteon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Visteon from $140.00 to $127.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Visteon from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Visteon in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $124.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sachin Lawande sold 49,453 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.44, for a total value of $4,620,888.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 175,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,401,242.88. This trade represents a 21.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Colleen Elizabeth Myers sold 475 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.92, for a total value of $52,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 241 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,731.72. This represents a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 99,754 shares of company stock valued at $10,296,332. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Visteon Trading Down 4.4%

VC stock opened at $110.49 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $97.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.12. Visteon Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $81.18 and a fifty-two week high of $129.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.26.

Visteon (NASDAQ:VC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.96 by ($0.31). Visteon had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 15.93%. The business had revenue of $954.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $901.33 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.47 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Visteon Corporation will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visteon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Visteon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Visteon's payout ratio is 18.27%.

Visteon Company Profile

Visteon Corporation is a global automotive electronics supplier that specializes in designing, engineering and manufacturing cockpit electronics and connected vehicle solutions. The company's product portfolio spans digital instrument clusters, infotainment systems, domain controllers and advanced driver interaction technologies. By integrating hardware, software and services, Visteon aims to deliver complete cockpit electronics platforms that enhance driver experience, safety and connectivity.

Founded in 2000 as a spin-off from Ford Motor Company, Visteon has evolved its focus toward next-generation electronics and software-driven vehicle architectures.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Visteon Corporation (NASDAQ:VC - Free Report).

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.