Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday.

Separately, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Virco Mfg. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

Virco Mfg. Stock Up 0.6 %

VIRC stock opened at $11.02 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.93 and a 200-day moving average of $14.02. Virco Mfg. has a fifty-two week low of $8.75 and a fifty-two week high of $18.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.52 million, a P/E ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.35). Virco Mfg. had a return on equity of 24.63% and a net margin of 8.93%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Virco Mfg. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virco Mfg. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 21st that allows the company to buyback $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Virco Mfg. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Virco Mfg.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.45%.

Institutional Trading of Virco Mfg.

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VIRC. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Virco Mfg. by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 16,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Virco Mfg. by 510.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 30,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 25,269 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Virco Mfg. during the third quarter worth about $194,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Virco Mfg. by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 2,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Virco Mfg. by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 240,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,327,000 after acquiring an additional 6,710 shares during the last quarter. 30.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.