Visteon (NASDAQ:VC) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Visteon to a "Buy", and the analyst consensus sits at a "Moderate Buy" with a $123.33 average price target (eight Buy vs. six Hold ratings).
• Visteon beat the quarter estimates—EPS $2.96 vs. $2.08 expected and revenue $948M vs. $920.25M—but EPS fell from $4.44 a year ago; the stock trades around $90.33 with a market cap of $2.42B and a P/E of 9.58.
• Insider activity: CEO Sachin Lawande sold 49,453 shares at an average $93.44 on March 4, reducing his holdings by about 21.98% (insiders own ~2.0% of the company).

Visteon (NASDAQ:VC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on VC. Wolfe Research lowered Visteon from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Visteon from $140.00 to $127.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Visteon from $148.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Visteon from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Visteon from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $123.33.

Visteon Price Performance

Shares of Visteon stock opened at $90.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.80. Visteon has a 52-week low of $65.10 and a 52-week high of $129.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $97.05 and a 200-day moving average of $106.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.15.

Visteon (NASDAQ:VC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.88. Visteon had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 17.94%. The business had revenue of $948.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $920.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Visteon will post 8.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visteon

In other Visteon news, CEO Sachin Lawande sold 49,453 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.44, for a total transaction of $4,620,888.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 175,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,401,242.88. This represents a 21.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VC. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Visteon by 28.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,222,551 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,364,000 after purchasing an additional 494,820 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in Visteon in the fourth quarter worth $25,342,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Visteon in the fourth quarter worth $22,361,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Visteon by 483.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 231,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,033,000 after buying an additional 191,943 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Visteon by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,334,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,902,000 after buying an additional 187,347 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.71% of the company's stock.

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.

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