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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday morning.

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

Virco Mfg. Price Performance

VIRC stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $10.05. The company had a trading volume of 105,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 133,948. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.21. Virco Mfg. has a fifty-two week low of $8.75 and a fifty-two week high of $18.50. The company has a market cap of $163.70 million, a P/E ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.35). Virco Mfg. had a return on equity of 24.63% and a net margin of 8.93%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Virco Mfg. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virco Mfg. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Virco Mfg.'s dividend payout ratio is 6.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virco Mfg.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Virco Mfg. by 32.2% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 399,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,564,000 after purchasing an additional 97,300 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Virco Mfg. by 45.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 276,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,852,000 after buying an additional 85,962 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virco Mfg. in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,153,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virco Mfg. in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,013,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Virco Mfg. by 11.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 525,456 shares of the company's stock worth $7,325,000 after acquiring an additional 55,689 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.97% of the company's stock.

Virco Mfg. Company 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.