VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) Trading Down 6.9% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares of VSE fell 6.9% to about $209.46 on Tuesday, with intraday volume roughly 129,465 shares—about an 80% decline from the stock's average daily volume.
• Analysts remain mostly positive: the consensus rating is Moderate Buy (8 Buys, 1 Hold) with a consensus price target of $229.29 and several firms raising targets into the $250s.
• VSE beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $1.16 vs. $0.88 expected and revenue of $301.18M, up 32.4% year-over-year, while trading at a high P/E of about 225.75 and a market cap near $5.6B.

Shares of VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC - Get Free Report) dropped 6.9% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $211.87 and last traded at $209.4580. Approximately 129,465 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 646,404 shares. The stock had previously closed at $225.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VSEC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $222.00 price target on VSE in a research note on Friday, January 9th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of VSE in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on VSE from $208.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on VSE from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of VSE in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $229.29.

VSE Trading Down 11.3%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $204.57 and a 200-day moving average of $189.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 225.75, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.43.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The construction company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.28. VSE had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 1.84%.The business had revenue of $301.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $289.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. VSE's revenue for the quarter was up 32.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that VSE Corporation will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VSE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. VSE's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.94%.

Institutional Trading of VSE

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in VSE by 145.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 258 shares of the construction company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in VSE during the 1st quarter worth approximately $247,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in VSE by 946.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the construction company's stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704 shares during the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. acquired a new position in VSE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $323,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in VSE by 262.1% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,168 shares of the construction company's stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,017 shares during the last quarter. 91.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About VSE

VSE Corporation NASDAQ: VSEC is a provider of aftermarket distribution and supply chain management services serving both government and commercial markets. The company's solutions span a wide range of industries, with particular emphasis on defense, aerospace and transportation. VSE's core mission is to ensure mission readiness by delivering critical parts, maintenance and technical support for equipment throughout its lifecycle.

Through its Distribution Services segment, VSE sources, markets and distributes replacement parts and components for commercial truck, bus, rail and specialty vehicle applications.

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