Castleark Management LLC Buys New Shares in VSE Corporation $VSEC

Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in shares of VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 48,216 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,017,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in VSE in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VSE during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of VSE by 89.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 276 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of VSE during the second quarter valued at approximately $90,000. 91.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VSEC has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on VSE from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of VSE from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of VSE in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of VSE from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VSE from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.22.

Insider Activity

In other VSE news, COO Benjamin E. Thomas sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.82, for a total transaction of $1,279,330.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 42,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,431,571.98. This represents a 13.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John A. Cuomo sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.49, for a total transaction of $4,243,575.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 169,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,111,027.13. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

VSE Stock Performance

VSE stock opened at $217.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $215.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.74. VSE Corporation has a 52-week low of $154.67 and a 52-week high of $247.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 3.77 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The construction company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.82. VSE had a net margin of 6.17% and a return on equity of 6.71%. The company had revenue of $449.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $425.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 65.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that VSE Corporation will post 5.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VSE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. VSE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.82%.

VSE Company Profile

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.