Verso (NYSE:VRS) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Verso (NYSE:VRS – Get Rating) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Separately, Zacks Investment Research raised Verso from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Verso currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.33.

NYSE VRS opened at $26.99 on Tuesday. Verso has a 52 week low of $14.01 and a 52 week high of $27.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $786.89 million, a P/E ratio of 207.62 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $26.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.53.

Verso (NYSE:VRS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.06. Verso had a positive return on equity of 15.98% and a negative net margin of 0.23%. The company had revenue of $328.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $298.41 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Verso will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRS. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verso during the third quarter valued at approximately $346,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Verso by 824.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 39,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 35,316 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verso by 79.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 3,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 1,351 shares in the last quarter. IndexIQ Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verso by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. IndexIQ Advisors LLC now owns 30,816 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $639,000 after buying an additional 3,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verso by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 109,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,266,000 after buying an additional 24,981 shares in the last quarter. 81.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verso Company Profile (Get Rating)

Verso Corporation produces and sells coated papers in North America. It operates through two segments, Paper and Pulp. The company offers coated and uncoated freesheet, coated groundwood, supercalendered, specialty, and packaging papers; and pulp to manufacture printing, writing and specialty paper grades, and tissue and other products.

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