StockNews.com Downgrades 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 research report sent to investors on Thursday.

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

Virco Mfg. Stock Performance

VIRC 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 firm has a market capitalization of $274.56 million, a PE ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 2.30. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.09.

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

Virco Mfg. Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virco Mfg.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VIRC. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Virco Mfg. by 115.6% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Virco Mfg. in the first quarter valued at approximately $90,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Virco Mfg. in the second quarter valued at approximately $127,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Virco Mfg. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $160,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Virco Mfg. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.97% of the company’s stock.

Virco Mfg. Company Profile

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.