Sachin Lawande Sells 49,453 Shares of Visteon (NASDAQ:VC) Stock

Visteon Corporation (NASDAQ:VC) CEO Sachin Lawande sold 49,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.44, for a total transaction of $4,620,888.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 175,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,401,242.88. The trade was a 21.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Visteon Stock Down 1.9%

VC stock traded down $1.78 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $90.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 543,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,596. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.61, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Visteon Corporation has a 52-week low of $65.10 and a 52-week high of $129.10.

Visteon (NASDAQ:VC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.88. The business had revenue of $948.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $920.25 million. Visteon had a return on equity of 17.94% and a net margin of 6.93%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Visteon Corporation will post 8.42 EPS for the current year.

Visteon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Visteon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Visteon’s dividend payout ratio is 15.91%.

Institutional Trading of Visteon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VC. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Visteon by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,222,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,364,000 after purchasing an additional 494,820 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Visteon in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,342,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Visteon during the fourth quarter worth about $22,361,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Visteon by 483.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 231,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,033,000 after buying an additional 191,943 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Visteon by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,334,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,902,000 after buying an additional 187,347 shares during the period. 99.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on VC. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Visteon from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $120.00 price objective on Visteon in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $117.00 price objective on Visteon in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on Visteon from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Visteon from $140.00 to $127.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.15.

About Visteon

Visteon Corporation is a global automotive electronics supplier that specializes in designing, engineering and manufacturing cockpit electronics and connected vehicle solutions. The company’s product portfolio spans digital instrument clusters, infotainment systems, domain controllers and advanced driver interaction technologies. By integrating hardware, software and services, Visteon aims to deliver complete cockpit electronics platforms that enhance driver experience, safety and connectivity.

Founded in 2000 as a spin-off from Ford Motor Company, Visteon has evolved its focus toward next-generation electronics and software-driven vehicle architectures.