Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $587.00.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Valmont Industries from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research cut Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Valmont Industries from $645.00 to $678.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Valmont Industries from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Theodor Werner Freye sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $495.00, for a total value of $396,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,388,475. The trade was a 22.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John L. Schwietz acquired 208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $486.14 per share, for a total transaction of $101,117.12. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 2,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,454,530.88. This represents a 7.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valmont Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VMI. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Valmont Industries by 56,102.4% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 13,046,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,535,848,000 after buying an additional 13,023,615 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,141,369,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Valmont Industries by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 422,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $164,009,000 after acquiring an additional 32,382 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 369,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $148,509,000 after purchasing an additional 12,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Valmont Industries in the 2nd quarter worth about $175,408,000. 87.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valmont Industries Stock Performance

NYSE VMI opened at $486.94 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Valmont Industries has a twelve month low of $360.41 and a twelve month high of $585.71. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $524.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $485.90. The firm has a market cap of $9.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.35.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.80 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 25.57% and a net margin of 11.70%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Valmont Industries will post 23.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 25th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Valmont Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.99%.

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.