Primecap Management Co. CA Acquires New Position in VSE Corporation $VSEC

Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 52,500 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,996,000. Primecap Management Co. CA owned about 0.19% of VSE at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its stake in VSE by 12.6% in the first quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 314,789 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $58,047,000 after purchasing an additional 35,246 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of VSE during the second quarter valued at about $5,474,000. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust increased its holdings in shares of VSE by 16.4% in the first quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 195,915 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,127,000 after buying an additional 27,563 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new position in shares of VSE in the first quarter worth about $1,276,000. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new stake in shares of VSE in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,527,000. 91.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VSEC shares. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on VSE in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VSE in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research lowered VSE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of VSE from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of VSE from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, VSE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.22.

VSE Price Performance

VSEC opened at $226.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 3.77. VSE Corporation has a 52-week low of $154.67 and a 52-week high of $247.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a PE ratio of 72.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $216.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $202.01.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The construction company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.82. The company had revenue of $449.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.03 million. VSE had a return on equity of 6.71% and a net margin of 6.17%.The firm’s revenue was up 65.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that VSE Corporation will post 5.78 EPS for the current year.

VSE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. VSE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.82%.

Insider Transactions at VSE

In other news, COO Benjamin E. Thomas sold 6,500 shares of VSE stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.82, for a total transaction of $1,279,330.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 42,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,431,571.98. The trade was a 13.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John A. Cuomo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.49, for a total transaction of $4,243,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 169,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,111,027.13. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

VSE Profile

VSE Corporation (NASDAQ: VSEC) is a provider of aftermarket distribution and supply chain management services serving both government and commercial markets. The company’s solutions span a wide range of industries, with particular emphasis on defense, aerospace and transportation. VSE’s core mission is to ensure mission readiness by delivering critical parts, maintenance and technical support for equipment throughout its lifecycle.

Through its Distribution Services segment, VSE sources, markets and distributes replacement parts and components for commercial truck, bus, rail and specialty vehicle applications.