Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (NYSE:VPG) Short Interest Up 17.7% in February

Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (NYSE:VPG) saw a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 243,800 shares, an increase of 17.7% from the February 13th total of 207,200 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 87,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VPG shares. B. Riley upgraded shares of Vishay Precision Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $24.50 to $28.50 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Vishay Precision Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st.

Vishay Precision Group Price Performance

Shares of VPG traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.56. The company had a trading volume of 44,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 74,348. The company’s 50-day moving average is $23.34 and its 200-day moving average is $23.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 4.41 and a quick ratio of 2.80. The company has a market capitalization of $299.10 million, a P/E ratio of 30.49 and a beta of 1.08. Vishay Precision Group has a twelve month low of $20.83 and a twelve month high of $35.52.

Vishay Precision Group (NYSE:VPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.10). Vishay Precision Group had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 3.87%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vishay Precision Group will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vishay Precision Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VPG. Portolan Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vishay Precision Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,552,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Vishay Precision Group by 1,238.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 358,325 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $9,281,000 after purchasing an additional 331,547 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vishay Precision Group by 51.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 802,256 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $20,778,000 after purchasing an additional 271,974 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in Vishay Precision Group by 683.8% in the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 306,992 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $7,205,000 after acquiring an additional 267,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azarias Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Vishay Precision Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,142,000. 87.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vishay Precision Group Company Profile

Vishay Precision Group, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets specialized sensors, weighing solutions, and measurement systems in the United States, Israel, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Asia, and Canada. It operates through three segments: Sensors, Weighing Solutions, and Measurement Systems.