Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Separately, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued 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. Price Performance

VIRC opened at $9.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.09 million, a P/E ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.41. Virco Mfg. has a 52-week low of $9.08 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. declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 21st that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Virco Mfg. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 26th. Virco Mfg.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virco Mfg.

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Virco Mfg. in the third quarter worth about $194,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 buying an additional 25,269 shares during the last quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC increased its stake in Virco Mfg. by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 1,162,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,870,000 after purchasing an additional 60,900 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Virco Mfg. by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 240,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,327,000 after buying an additional 6,710 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Virco Mfg. by 22.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 170,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,356,000 after acquiring an additional 31,415 shares in the last quarter. 30.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.