Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Trading Up 5.6% – Should You Buy?

Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI)’s share price rose 5.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $572.69 and last traded at $571.00. 147,958 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 192,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $540.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VMI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Valmont Industries and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Valmont Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Valmont Industries from $541.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Valmont Industries from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Valmont Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Valmont Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $573.75.

Valmont Industries Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $497.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.34.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $5.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.72 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $994.85 million. Valmont Industries had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 24.94%. Valmont Industries’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 22.83 EPS for the current year.

Valmont Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. Valmont Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.10%.

Insider Activity at Valmont Industries

In other news, Director Mogens C. Bay sold 17,500 shares of Valmont Industries stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.34, for a total value of $8,615,950.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 112,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,294,213.06. The trade was a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Valmont Industries

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its position 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 buying an additional 32,382 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 1.7% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 399,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $154,855,000 after acquiring an additional 6,799 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 369,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $148,509,000 after acquiring an additional 12,480 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Valmont Industries by 3.1% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 290,948 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,809,000 after acquiring an additional 8,715 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Valmont Industries by 118.8% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 282,610 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $108,884,000 after acquiring an additional 153,418 shares during the period. 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.