Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . 127,993 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the previous session’s volume of 197,876 shares.The stock last traded at $467.1570 and had previously closed at $467.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VMI. Oppenheimer set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Valmont Industries and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Valmont Industries from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Valmont Industries from $645.00 to $678.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Valmont Industries from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $587.00.

Valmont Industries Trading Down 0.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $8.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $511.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $486.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.80 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 25.57% and a net margin of 11.70%.Valmont Industries’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 23.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Valmont Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 25th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 25th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Valmont Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 11.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valmont Industries

In related news, CFO John L. Schwietz purchased 208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $486.14 per share, for a total transaction of $101,117.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,454,530.88. This trade represents a 7.47% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Theodor Werner Freye sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $495.00, for a total transaction of $396,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,388,475. The trade was a 22.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Valmont Industries

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Valmont Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Valmont Industries in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in Valmont Industries in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in Valmont Industries in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

About Valmont Industries

Valmont Industries, Inc (NYSE: VMI) is a diversified industrial manufacturer specializing in infrastructure and agricultural products. Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, the company engages in the design, production and distribution of engineered products that support water management, power transmission, lighting and traffic infrastructure. Valmont’s solutions range from center-pivot and lateral-move irrigation systems to utility poles, transmission towers, lighting structures and highway traffic signal support structures.

The company operates through several core business segments.