Aviation firm VSE dips after $400 mln M&A-related stock sale

Shares of aviation services firm VSE Corp VSEC.O down 2.3% premarket to $175.44 after acquisition-related equity offering priced

Miramar, Florida-based VSEC late Mon sold ~2.4 mln shares at $170 for total deal size of about $400 mln

Offering price represents 5.3% discount to stock's last close

VSEC to use expected net offering proceeds of about $384 mln to fund all or a portion of announced $350 mln acquisition of Aero 3, to support potential future acquisitions, and for general purposes

After the bell Mon, VSEC reported Q3 rev growth of 39% yr/yr to a record $282.9 mln, above consensus est. of $276.4 mln, per LSEG

Jefferies and Morgan Stanley are joint lead bookrunners for the stock offering

Through Mon, VSEC shares rose ~89% YTD. Stock hit intraday record high of $186 during regular session on Mon

All 9 analysts covering VSEC are bullish; median PT of $190 up from $150 on Jul 28, per LSEG data

((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))