Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Takes Position in VSE Co. (NASDAQ:VSEC)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in VSE Co. (NASDAQ:VSEC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 333,244 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,692,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VSE in the fourth quarter worth about $8,439,000. Corebridge Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in VSE by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 8,753 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in VSE by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,071,545 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $101,904,000 after purchasing an additional 182,465 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of VSE by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of VSE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $323,000. 91.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VSE Stock Performance

VSEC opened at $116.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 140.52 and a beta of 1.62. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.71. VSE Co. has a fifty-two week low of $73.36 and a fifty-two week high of $128.72.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The construction company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.17. VSE had a return on equity of 7.26% and a net margin of 1.36%. The firm had revenue of $299.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.97 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that VSE Co. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VSE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. VSE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on VSEC shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on VSE from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on VSE from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised VSE to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VSE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.67.

VSE Company Profile

VSE Corporation operates as a diversified aftermarket products and services company in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Aviation and Fleet. The Aviation segment provides aftermarket parts supply and distribution; maintenance, repair, and overhaul services for components and engine accessories supporting commercial, business, and general aviation operators.