Expect Equity LLC Buys New Shares in VSE Corporation $VSEC

Expect Equity LLC bought a new position in VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 13,617 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,111,000. VSE comprises 2.0% of Expect Equity LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSEC. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of VSE by 34.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 13,139 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VSE during the first quarter worth about $247,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in VSE by 4.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,485 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in VSE by 10.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 346,390 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,563,000 after buying an additional 32,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in VSE by 56.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 50,422 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,050,000 after buying an additional 18,220 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VSEC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price target on shares of VSE in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of VSE from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VSE in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of VSE from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on shares of VSE in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have 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 $252.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at VSE

In other VSE news, CEO John A. Cuomo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.49, for a total value of $4,243,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 169,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,111,027.13. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Benjamin E. Thomas sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,431,571.98. The trade was a 13.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VSE Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:VSEC opened at $217.65 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. VSE Corporation has a 12-month low of $154.67 and a 12-month high of $247.85. The business has a 50 day moving average of $215.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $201.74. The company has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a PE ratio of 69.76, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.23.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The construction company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.82. The business had revenue of $449.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $425.03 million. VSE had a net margin of 6.17% and a return on equity of 6.71%. The business’s revenue was up 65.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that VSE Corporation will post 5.78 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. VSE’s dividend payout ratio is 12.82%.

About VSE

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.