Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

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

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

Virco Mfg. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VIRC opened at $11.17 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.07. Virco Mfg. has a fifty-two week low of $8.75 and a fifty-two week high of $18.50. The company has a market capitalization of $181.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 0.77. 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 data on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. Analysts expect that Virco Mfg. will post 1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virco Mfg. Announces Dividend

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

Virco Mfg. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 21st that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Virco Mfg.

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in shares of Virco Mfg. by 17.2% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 12,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Virco Mfg. by 25.8% during the third 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. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Virco Mfg. by 129.1% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 6,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 3,511 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in Virco Mfg. by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 97,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,000 after buying an additional 6,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 6,481 shares during the period. 30.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Virco Mfg.

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.