Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $573.75.

VMI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Valmont Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research upgraded Valmont Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Valmont Industries from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Valmont Industries and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th.

Valmont Industries Stock Down 0.1%

VMI stock opened at $554.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.33. Valmont Industries has a 52 week low of $326.22 and a 52 week high of $585.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $531.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $465.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

Valmont Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. Valmont Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 17.10%.

Insider Activity at Valmont Industries

In other news, Director Mogens C. Bay sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.34, for a total transaction of $8,615,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 112,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,294,213.06. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valmont Industries

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VMI. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 17.2% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,769 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Valmont Industries by 61.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. First Nebraska Trust Co acquired a new position in Valmont Industries in the 1st quarter valued at about $440,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 12.8% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 23,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,439,000 after buying an additional 2,672 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Valmont Industries by 31.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 125,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,309,000 after acquiring an additional 30,359 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Valmont Industries Company 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.