StockNews.com Lowers Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday.

Separately, Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up from $16.00) on shares of Virco Mfg. in a research report on Friday, June 7th.

Virco Mfg. Stock Up 3.5 %

VIRC stock opened at $16.94 on Thursday. Virco Mfg. has a 52-week low of $4.33 and a 52-week high of $17.83. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $274.60 million, a P/E ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 0.67.

Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 7th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.26. Virco Mfg. had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 28.41%. The business had revenue of $46.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.70 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Virco Mfg. will post 1.86 EPS for the current year.

Virco Mfg. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 21st were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 21st. Virco Mfg.’s payout ratio is presently 5.13%.

Institutional Trading of Virco Mfg.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Virco Mfg. by 115.6% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Virco Mfg. in the first quarter worth approximately $90,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Virco Mfg. in the second quarter worth approximately $127,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Virco Mfg. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $160,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in Virco Mfg. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $190,000. 30.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Virco Mfg.

Virco Mfg. Corporation engages in the design, production, and distribution of furniture in the United States and Canada. The company offers seating products, including 4-leg chairs, cantilever chairs, mobile task chairs and lab stools, tablet armchairs, steel-frame and floor rockers, series stools, hard plastic seating, folding and upholstered stack chairs, and plastic stack and upholstered ergonomic chairs.