Short Interest in VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC) Rises By 18.3%

VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 2,253,292 shares, an increase of 18.3% from the February 26th total of 1,905,041 shares. Approximately 8.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 576,314 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of VSE from $233.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of VSE in a research note on Monday, December 29th. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on shares of VSE from $208.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial set a $222.00 target price on shares of VSE in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of VSE in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, VSE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.71.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in shares of VSE by 26.2% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 394,499 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $65,582,000 after purchasing an additional 81,788 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of VSE by 31.2% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 247,417 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,131,000 after buying an additional 58,805 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of VSE by 1,331.0% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 59,642 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $10,304,000 after buying an additional 55,474 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of VSE by 10.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 346,390 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,563,000 after buying an additional 32,489 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew 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 in the last quarter. 91.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VSE Price Performance

Shares of VSEC opened at $184.40 on Wednesday. VSE has a 52 week low of $100.53 and a 52 week high of $231.60. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 207.19, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $203.68 and a 200-day moving average of $185.22.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The construction company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $301.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. VSE had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 1.84%.The business’s revenue was up 32.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that VSE will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

VSE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. VSE’s dividend payout ratio is 44.94%.

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.