Fred Alger Management LLC Purchases 81,788 Shares of VSE Corporation $VSEC

Fred Alger Management LLC grew its position in shares of VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC) by 26.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 394,499 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 81,788 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in VSE were worth $65,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in VSE in the first quarter worth $247,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in VSE by 946.7% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new position in VSE during the second quarter valued at $498,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in VSE by 262.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,168 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of VSE in the 3rd quarter worth $887,000. 91.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VSEC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of VSE from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup lifted their price target on VSE from $233.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on VSE from $208.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on VSE from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.71.

VSE Trading Down 2.5%

VSEC stock opened at $194.94 on Monday. VSE Corporation has a twelve month low of $100.53 and a twelve month high of $231.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 219.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.94.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The construction company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.28. VSE had a net margin of 1.84% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The firm had revenue of $301.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that VSE Corporation will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

VSE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a $0.10 dividend. 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 44.94%.

VSE 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.