Wall Street Zen Upgrades Visteon (NASDAQ:VC) to “Buy”

Visteon (NASDAQ:VC) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on VC. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $120.00 price objective on Visteon in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Visteon from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group cut their price target on Visteon from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Visteon from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Visteon in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visteon presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.33.

Visteon Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:VC opened at $90.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 9.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.72. Visteon has a 12 month low of $65.10 and a 12 month high of $129.10.

Visteon (NASDAQ:VC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.88. The firm had revenue of $948.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $920.25 million. Visteon had a return on equity of 17.94% and a net margin of 6.93%.The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.44 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Visteon will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sachin Lawande sold 49,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.44, for a total value of $4,620,888.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 175,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,401,242.88. This trade represents a 21.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Visteon by 144.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 288 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in Visteon during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in shares of Visteon in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Visteon in the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Visteon in the third quarter worth $48,000. 99.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Visteon

Visteon Corporation is a global automotive electronics supplier that specializes in designing, engineering and manufacturing cockpit electronics and connected vehicle solutions. The company’s product portfolio spans digital instrument clusters, infotainment systems, domain controllers and advanced driver interaction technologies. By integrating hardware, software and services, Visteon aims to deliver complete cockpit electronics platforms that enhance driver experience, safety and connectivity.

Founded in 2000 as a spin-off from Ford Motor Company, Visteon has evolved its focus toward next-generation electronics and software-driven vehicle architectures.