Wall Street Zen Downgrades Varex Imaging (NASDAQ:VREX) to Buy

Varex Imaging (NASDAQ:VREX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on VREX. B. Riley upgraded shares of Varex Imaging to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Varex Imaging from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Varex Imaging Stock Up 3.9%

VREX stock traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $7.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 136,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 575,630. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Varex Imaging has a 52-week low of $6.76 and a 52-week high of $16.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.77 million, a P/E ratio of -6.65 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.26.

Varex Imaging (NASDAQ:VREX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.12. Varex Imaging had a negative net margin of 5.79% and a positive return on equity of 4.00%. The company had revenue of $212.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $206.76 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Varex Imaging will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sunny Sanyal sold 8,749 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.24, for a total value of $98,338.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 190,193 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,137,769.32. This trade represents a 4.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kimberley E. Honeysett sold 4,007 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total value of $51,329.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,002 shares of the company's stock, valued at $51,265.62. This represents a 50.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Varex Imaging

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VREX. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Varex Imaging by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 166,977 shares of the company's stock worth $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 8,104 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Varex Imaging during the 4th quarter worth $237,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Varex Imaging by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 41,144 shares of the company's stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 3,914 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Varex Imaging by 240.7% during the 4th quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 328,692 shares of the company's stock worth $4,796,000 after purchasing an additional 232,229 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Varex Imaging by 60.7% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 9,531 shares of the company's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the period.

About Varex Imaging

Varex Imaging Corporation designs, manufactures, and sells X-ray imaging components. The company operates through two segments, Medical and Industrial. The Medical segment designs, manufactures, sells, and services X-ray imaging components, comprising X-ray tubes, digital detectors and accessories, ionization chambers, high voltage connectors, image-processing software and workstations, 3D reconstruction software, computer-aided diagnostic software, collimators, automatic exposure control devices, generators, and heat exchangers.