Franklin Resources Inc. Has $29.80 Million Stock Position in VSE Co. (NASDAQ:VSEC)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in VSE Co. (NASDAQ:VSEC) by 121.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 325,121 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 178,435 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in VSE were worth $29,801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VSEC. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in VSE by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 823,749 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $68,149,000 after buying an additional 29,811 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in VSE by 1.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 822,784 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $72,634,000 after acquiring an additional 15,323 shares during the last quarter. AltraVue Capital LLC acquired a new position in VSE during the second quarter valued at approximately $48,343,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in VSE by 12.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 382,719 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $31,669,000 after purchasing an additional 42,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of VSE by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 323,830 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $26,790,000 after purchasing an additional 15,931 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on VSE from $115.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of VSE from $120.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of VSE from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VSE to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of VSE from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.50.

VSE Stock Down 6.5 %

NASDAQ:VSEC opened at $102.22 on Thursday. VSE Co. has a one year low of $57.10 and a one year high of $123.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.77 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.42.

VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The construction company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $273.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.88 million. VSE had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 7.26%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that VSE Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

VSE 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.