Virco Manufacturing Corporation (NASDAQ:VIRC) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest in Virco Manufacturing fell sharply in June, dropping 39% to 304,706 shares, or about 2.3% of the float. That leaves the stock with a relatively low days-to-cover ratio of 1.5 days.
• Company insiders have been buying shares, including CEO Robert A. Virtue and EVP Douglas A. Virtue, who made recent purchases at around $6 per share. Insiders bought 13,788 shares over the last three months, and they own 16.94% of the company.
• Virco’s recent fundamentals and stock performance are mixed: the company reported a quarterly EPS loss of $0.18, despite revenue topping estimates at $30.69 million. The stock traded around $6.05, near its 50-day and 200-day averages, and analysts currently rate it a consensus “Reduce.”

Virco Manufacturing Corporation (NASDAQ:VIRC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 304,706 shares, a decrease of 39.0% from the June 15th total of 499,788 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 206,076 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert A. Virtue bought 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $6.22 per share, for a total transaction of $26,746.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 506,124 shares in the company, valued at $3,148,091.28. This represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Douglas A. Virtue acquired 8,083 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $6.00 per share, with a total value of $48,498.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president owned 888,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,331,978. This represents a 0.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders bought 13,788 shares of company stock valued at $83,674. Corporate insiders own 16.94% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Virco Manufacturing

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Minerva Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virco Manufacturing by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 1,448,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,254,000 after acquiring an additional 85,696 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Virco Manufacturing by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 317,915 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,007,000 after acquiring an additional 64,944 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Virco Manufacturing by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 265,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,697,000 after acquiring an additional 4,355 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Virco Manufacturing by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 95,057 shares of the company's stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 3,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Virco Manufacturing by 32.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 82,517 shares of the company's stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 20,004 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.97% of the company's stock.

Virco Manufacturing Stock Up 0.2%

VIRC opened at $6.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.17 million, a P/E ratio of -100.82 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.21. Virco Manufacturing has a 12 month low of $5.16 and a 12 month high of $9.09.

Virco Manufacturing (NASDAQ:VIRC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 3rd. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $30.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.20 million. Virco Manufacturing had a negative return on equity of 0.16% and a negative net margin of 0.48%.

Virco Manufacturing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 19th were given a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 18th. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Virco Manufacturing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -166.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Virco Manufacturing in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Virco Manufacturing from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce".

Virco Manufacturing Company Profile

Virco Manufacturing Corporation NASDAQ: VIRC is a leading American manufacturer of furniture, primarily serving the K-12 education market. Headquartered in Torrance, California, the company designs, produces and distributes a comprehensive range of classroom seating, student desks, tables and educational workstations. Over several decades, Virco has built a reputation for durable, cost-effective solutions tailored to the needs of schools, colleges and other institutional customers.

The company's product portfolio includes molded plastic and wood-seat student chairs, modular and fixed-height desks, multi-purpose tables, computer furniture, laboratory stools and teacher furnishings.

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