Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMIFree Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Valmont Industries from $645.00 to $678.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Oppenheimer set a $600.00 price target on shares of Valmont Industries and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Valmont Industries from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $587.00.

View Our Latest Research Report on VMI

Valmont Industries Stock Up 0.5%

Valmont Industries stock opened at $494.14 on Friday. Valmont Industries has a fifty-two week low of $360.41 and a fifty-two week high of $585.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $532.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $482.32.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMIGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.34. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.88 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Valmont Industries will post 23.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Valmont Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Valmont Industries

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Valmont Industries by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $927,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC raised its position in Valmont Industries by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Valmont Industries by 0.4% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 7,565 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,933,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balefire LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 5.1% in the first quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

About Valmont Industries

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI)

Receive News & Ratings for Valmont Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Valmont Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.