California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 1,460 Shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 38,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,460 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Valmont Industries were worth $11,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Valmont Industries during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Valmont Industries in the third quarter valued at about $58,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Valmont Industries by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Valmont Industries by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Valmont Industries by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Valmont Industries Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE VMI opened at $265.58 on Friday. Valmont Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $202.01 and a twelve month high of $379.22. The stock has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s fifty day moving average is $323.80 and its 200-day moving average is $320.42.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.21. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 23.15% and a net margin of 8.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 18.07 EPS for the current year.

Valmont Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This is an increase from Valmont Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Valmont Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VMI shares. William Blair cut shares of Valmont Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. DA Davidson lowered shares of Valmont Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com lowered Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Valmont Industries from $387.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th.

About Valmont Industries

Valmont Industries, Inc operates as manufacturer of products and services for infrastructure and agriculture markets in the United States, Australia, Brazil, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Infrastructure and Agriculture. The company manufactures and distributes steel, pre-stressed concrete, composite structures for electrical transmission, substation, and distribution applications; and designs, engineers, and manufactures metal, steel, wood, aluminum, and composite poles and structures for lighting and transportation applications.