Principal Financial Group Inc. Invests $194,000 in Virco Mfg. Co. (NASDAQ:VIRC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Virco Mfg. Co. (NASDAQ:VIRC) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 14,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Virco Mfg. at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in Virco Mfg. by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 12,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Virco Mfg. by 25.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 2,961 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Virco Mfg. by 129.1% in the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 6,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 3,511 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in Virco Mfg. by 7.0% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 97,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,000 after acquiring an additional 6,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in Virco Mfg. by 12.5% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 58,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 6,481 shares during the period. 30.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIRC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Virco Mfg. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Virco Mfg. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Virco Mfg. Trading Down 2.4 %

VIRC opened at $9.80 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $159.63 million, a P/E ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 0.77. Virco Mfg. Co. has a 52 week low of $8.75 and a 52 week high of $18.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.47.

Virco Mfg. (NASDAQ:VIRC) last released 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 net margin of 8.93% and a return on equity of 24.63%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Virco Mfg. Co. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Virco Mfg. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. Virco Mfg.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.45%.

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.