Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) Short Interest Down 47.0% in March

Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 234,300 shares, a decline of 47.0% from the February 28th total of 442,300 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 145,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valmont Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VMI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 271,604 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,752,000 after purchasing an additional 3,501 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Valmont Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $558,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 371.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 21,927 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,338,000 after buying an additional 17,278 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 349,426 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,316,000 after buying an additional 13,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Valmont Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,588,000. 87.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valmont Industries Stock Down 3.3 %

VMI stock traded down $10.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $288.52. 36,081 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 147,452. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $330.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $319.59. Valmont Industries has a 52 week low of $202.01 and a 52 week high of $379.22. The company has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Valmont Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This is a boost from Valmont Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Valmont Industries’s payout ratio is presently 15.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Valmont Industries Company Profile

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.