First Eagle Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in VSE Co. (NASDAQ:VSEC)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of VSE Co. (NASDAQ:VSEC) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,422 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 17,500 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned 0.50% of VSE worth $9,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in VSE by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 928,617 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $88,311,000 after acquiring an additional 104,868 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in VSE by 12.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 382,719 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $31,669,000 after acquiring an additional 42,637 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of VSE by 121.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 325,121 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,801,000 after buying an additional 178,435 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of VSE by 5.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 323,830 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $26,790,000 after buying an additional 15,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VSE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,018,000. 91.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on VSEC. StockNews.com upgraded VSE to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on VSE from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on VSE from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, VSE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.67.

VSE Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of VSEC opened at $113.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 3.69. VSE Co. has a one year low of $73.36 and a one year high of $123.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.22 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $103.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.32.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The construction company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.17. VSE had a return on equity of 7.26% and a net margin of 1.36%. The firm had revenue of $299.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.97 million. Equities research analysts forecast that VSE Co. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VSE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. VSE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.19%.

VSE Company Profile

VSE Corporation operates as a diversified aftermarket products and services company in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Aviation and Fleet. The Aviation segment provides aftermarket parts supply and distribution; maintenance, repair, and overhaul services for components and engine accessories supporting commercial, business, and general aviation operators.