Virco Mfg. Co. (NASDAQ:VIRC) Shares Purchased by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Virco Mfg. Co. (NASDAQ:VIRC) by 42.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,235 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,880 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.64% of Virco Mfg. worth $1,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Virco Mfg. by 311.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 145,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 110,173 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 valued at $11,870,000 after purchasing an additional 60,900 shares during the last quarter. Quartz Partners LLC purchased a new position in Virco Mfg. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $883,000. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Virco Mfg. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Virco Mfg. by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. 30.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virco Mfg. Stock Performance

Shares of Virco Mfg. stock opened at $10.28 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 0.76. Virco Mfg. Co. has a 12 month low of $9.08 and a 12 month high of $18.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $0.52 EPS 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Virco Mfg. Co. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Virco Mfg. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Virco Mfg.’s payout ratio is 6.45%.

Virco Mfg. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 21st that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on VIRC. Wedbush reiterated 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Virco Mfg. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Virco Mfg. 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.