California State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 13,023,615 Shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. $VMI

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) by 56,102.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 13,046,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,023,615 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.68% of Valmont Industries worth $7,535,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaGrep UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Valmont Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $587,000. Turner Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Valmont Industries during the second quarter valued at approximately $304,000. denkapparat Operations GmbH increased its holdings in Valmont Industries by 179.3% during the 2nd quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH now owns 1,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $874,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the period. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the 2nd quarter worth $593,000. Finally, Natural Investments LLC grew its position in Valmont Industries by 181.6% during the 2nd quarter. Natural Investments LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. 87.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valmont Industries Stock Performance

Shares of VMI stock opened at $484.36 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $501.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $486.74. Valmont Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $361.50 and a 12 month high of $585.71.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.88 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 23.08 EPS for the current year.

Valmont Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on VMI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Valmont Industries from $645.00 to $678.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Valmont Industries from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Oppenheimer set a $600.00 price target on shares of Valmont Industries and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valmont Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $587.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Valmont Industries Profile

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.