Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning.

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

Virco Mfg. Price Performance

VIRC stock opened at $11.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $181.96 million, a P/E ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $12.12 and its 200 day moving average is $14.07. Virco Mfg. has a 52 week low of $8.75 and a 52 week high of $18.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.88.

Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.35). Virco Mfg. had a net margin of 8.93% and a return on equity of 24.63%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. Research analysts predict that Virco Mfg. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Virco Mfg. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were given a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. Virco Mfg.’s payout ratio is 6.45%.

Virco Mfg. announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 21st that permits the company to buyback $10.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VIRC. Algert Global LLC grew its position in shares of Virco Mfg. by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 12,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Virco Mfg. by 25.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,000 after acquiring an additional 2,961 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Virco Mfg. by 129.1% in the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 6,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 3,511 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Virco Mfg. by 7.0% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 97,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after acquiring an additional 6,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Virco Mfg. by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 58,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 6,481 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.