The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires New Shares in VSE Corporation $VSEC

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 14,569 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,329,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VSE by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 314,789 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $58,047,000 after acquiring an additional 35,246 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in shares of VSE during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,527,000. Emerald Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in VSE during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,474,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new position in VSE during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,971,000. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust boosted its holdings in VSE by 16.4% in the first quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 195,915 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,127,000 after purchasing an additional 27,563 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VSE

In other VSE news, COO Benjamin E. Thomas sold 6,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 42,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,431,571.98. The trade was a 13.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John A. Cuomo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.49, for a total value of $4,243,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 169,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,111,027.13. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 target price on shares of VSE in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. Zacks Research cut VSE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on VSE from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on VSE from $263.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on VSE from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.22.

VSE Stock Down 5.0%

Shares of VSEC stock opened at $198.25 on Wednesday. VSE Corporation has a 12 month low of $154.67 and a 12 month high of $247.85. The stock has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $215.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $202.16.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The construction company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.82. VSE had a net margin of 6.17% and a return on equity of 6.71%. The business had revenue of $449.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $425.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 65.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that VSE Corporation will post 5.78 earnings per share for the current year.

VSE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. VSE’s 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.