VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Here's Why

Key Points

• VNET Group shares hit a new 52-week low, trading as low as $7.10 after closing at $7.72, despite heavy volume of more than 418,000 shares.
• Analyst opinions remain mixed, but the overall consensus is still Moderate Buy with an average price target of $17.40. Recent calls ranged from sell ratings by Wall Street Zen and Weiss Ratings to buy/overweight ratings from Bank of America, Jefferies, and Morgan Stanley.
• The company’s latest earnings showed a much larger-than-expected loss, with EPS of -$1.20 versus the -$0.03 estimate, even though revenue slightly beat forecasts at $390.32 million.

VNET Group, Inc. - Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VNET - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $7.10 and last traded at $7.3350, with a volume of 418254 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $7.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on VNET shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded VNET Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Bank of America set a $16.30 price target on VNET Group and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $24.79 price objective on shares of VNET Group in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of VNET Group in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of VNET Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $17.40.

VNET Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.34 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.99. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.67.

VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 26th. The information technology services provider reported ($1.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by ($1.17). The firm had revenue of $390.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $388.47 million. VNET Group had a negative net margin of 22.01% and a negative return on equity of 31.59%. As a group, research analysts predict that VNET Group, Inc. - Unsponsored ADR will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VNET Group news, Director Sean Shao sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.71, for a total value of $102,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 983,820 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,682,332.20. The trade was a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 12.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VNET Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of VNET Group by 1,849.6% in the 4th quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 764,056 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $6,464,000 after purchasing an additional 724,865 shares in the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its holdings in VNET Group by 988.7% during the fourth quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 3,253,150 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $27,522,000 after buying an additional 2,954,350 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in VNET Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,650,000. Triata Capital Ltd grew its position in VNET Group by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Triata Capital Ltd now owns 12,498,810 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $105,740,000 after buying an additional 550,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AI Squared Management Ltd grew its position in VNET Group by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. AI Squared Management Ltd now owns 441,571 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $3,736,000 after buying an additional 64,291 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.83% of the company's stock.

About VNET Group

VNET Group, Inc NASDAQ: VNET is a leading carrier-neutral internet data center (IDC) services provider in China. Established in 1999 and headquartered in Beijing, the company delivers a full spectrum of infrastructure solutions that support the growing digital economy. Its core offerings include data center colocation, managed hosting, network connectivity, and disaster recovery services designed to meet the performance and reliability requirements of enterprise and internet content customers.

The company's product portfolio spans private cloud, public cloud and hybrid cloud deployments, enabling clients to scale computing resources on demand.

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