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

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

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

Virco Mfg. Trading Up 1.9 %

Virco Mfg. stock opened at $9.97 on Wednesday. Virco Mfg. has a one year low of $9.08 and a one year high of $18.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $10.60 and its 200 day moving average is $12.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.40 million, a PE ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 0.76.

Virco Mfg. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 26th. Virco Mfg.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.45%.

Virco Mfg. announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 21st that allows the company to buyback $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Virco Mfg.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Minerva Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Virco Mfg. by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 1,162,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,870,000 after buying an additional 60,900 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Virco Mfg. by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 684,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,015,000 after purchasing an additional 58,753 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Virco Mfg. by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 453,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,644,000 after purchasing an additional 60,403 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Virco Mfg. by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 366,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,761,000 after purchasing an additional 25,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Virco Mfg. by 2.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 240,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,327,000 after purchasing an additional 6,710 shares during the last quarter. 30.97% of the stock is currently owned by 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.