Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) Price Target to $5.00

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $8.00 to $5.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 103.67% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SPCE. Morgan Stanley set a $2.30 price target on shares of Virgin Galactic and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Susquehanna set a $3.50 target price on shares of Virgin Galactic in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Virgin Galactic in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $3.45.

Virgin Galactic Trading Up 2.3%

SPCE stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $2.46. 1,358,092 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,424,948. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.53 million, a PE ratio of -0.42 and a beta of 2.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $2.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.26. Virgin Galactic has a 52-week low of $2.13 and a 52-week high of $6.64.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 30th. The company reported ($0.98) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $0.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.41 million. Virgin Galactic had a negative return on equity of 108.78% and a negative net margin of 18,063.93%.During the same period last year, the business posted ($2.53) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Virgin Galactic will post -16.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Virgin Galactic

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pitcairn Co. purchased a new position in shares of Virgin Galactic in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Virgin Galactic during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new position in Virgin Galactic in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Virgin Galactic in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Virgin Galactic in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.62% of the company’s stock.

Virgin Galactic Company Profile

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc (NYSE: SPCE) is a commercial spaceflight company developing and operating spacecraft for private individuals and research customers. The firm’s primary business is suborbital human spaceflight, offering passengers a brief trip to the edge of space aboard its reusable spaceplane. In parallel, the company is building out infrastructure and support services for suborbital payload deployments and microgravity research missions.

The core flight system consists of a carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, which lifts the spaceplane SpaceShipTwo to high altitude before release.