VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) Trading Down 8.6% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares fell 8.6% intraday to about $161.03 on Wednesday, with volume of 442,460 shares (down ~31% from the average session).
• Analysts remain largely positive—MarketBeat shows a consensus "Buy" rating with an average price target of $229.29 after multiple upgrades and target raises.
• VSE recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates (EPS $1.16 vs. $0.88 est.; revenue up 32.4% year-over-year) and declared a $0.10 quarterly dividend (0.2% yield).

VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC - Get Free Report) shares fell 8.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $161.61 and last traded at $161.0280. 442,460 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 642,835 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VSEC. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VSE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of VSE in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of VSE from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Truist Financial set a $222.00 target price on shares of VSE in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of VSE from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $229.29.

VSE Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 179.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.43. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $201.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $190.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 3.76.

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

VSE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. VSE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VSE

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSEC. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VSE by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 394,499 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $65,582,000 after acquiring an additional 81,788 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of VSE by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 247,417 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,131,000 after acquiring an additional 58,805 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VSE by 1,331.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 59,642 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $10,304,000 after acquiring an additional 55,474 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VSE by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 346,390 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,563,000 after acquiring an additional 32,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VSE by 56.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 50,422 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $6,050,000 after acquiring an additional 18,220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.54% of the company's stock.

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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