Virco Manufacturing (NASDAQ:VIRC) Downgraded by Freedom Capital to Hold

Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Virco Manufacturing (NASDAQ:VIRC) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Virco Manufacturing from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Virco Manufacturing presently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Virco Manufacturing Stock Up 4.6%

NASDAQ:VIRC opened at $5.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $89.50 million, a P/E ratio of -94.82 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 3.09. Virco Manufacturing has a fifty-two week low of $5.16 and a fifty-two week high of $9.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.33.

Virco Manufacturing (NASDAQ:VIRC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 3rd. The company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by ($0.19). Virco Manufacturing had a negative return on equity of 0.16% and a negative net margin of 0.48%.The company had revenue of $30.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.20 million.

Virco Manufacturing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 19th will be given a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 18th. Virco Manufacturing’s payout ratio is 58.82%.

Insider Transactions at Virco Manufacturing

In other Virco Manufacturing news, EVP Douglas A. Virtue bought 11,678 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.09 per share, for a total transaction of $71,119.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 877,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,346,203.94. This represents a 1.35% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased 22,527 shares of company stock worth $135,562 in the last three months. Insiders own 16.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Virco Manufacturing

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Minerva Advisors LLC grew its position in Virco Manufacturing by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 1,448,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,254,000 after buying an additional 85,696 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Virco Manufacturing by 25.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 317,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,007,000 after buying an additional 64,944 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Virco Manufacturing by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 265,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,697,000 after buying an additional 4,355 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its position in Virco Manufacturing by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 95,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 3,095 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Virco Manufacturing by 32.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 82,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 20,004 shares during the period. 30.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Virco Manufacturing Company Profile

Virco Manufacturing Corporation (NASDAQ: VIRC) is a leading American manufacturer of furniture, primarily serving the K-12 education market. Headquartered in Torrance, California, the company designs, produces and distributes a comprehensive range of classroom seating, student desks, tables and educational workstations. Over several decades, Virco has built a reputation for durable, cost-effective solutions tailored to the needs of schools, colleges and other institutional customers.

The company’s product portfolio includes molded plastic and wood-seat student chairs, modular and fixed-height desks, multi-purpose tables, computer furniture, laboratory stools and teacher furnishings.