Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading 11.7% Higher Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) rose 11.7% on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $94.39 and last traded at $88.45. Approximately 12,267,756 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 60% from the average daily volume of 7,676,429 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.17.

The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.06. Vertiv had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Vertiv Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VRT shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Vertiv from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Vertiv from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Vertiv from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Vertiv from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Vertiv from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertiv currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.78.

Insider Activity at Vertiv

In other Vertiv news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 306,196 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.24, for a total transaction of $21,507,207.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,641,311.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Scott Cripps sold 56,594 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.76, for a total value of $4,004,591.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 306,196 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.24, for a total value of $21,507,207.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,641,311.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRT. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Vertiv by 182.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,236,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,757,198,000 after purchasing an additional 30,511,907 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertiv by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,855,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,530,018,000 after purchasing an additional 226,716 shares during the last quarter. Coatue Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 13,811,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $663,383,000 after purchasing an additional 2,249,353 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Vertiv by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,817,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vertiv in the 4th quarter worth approximately $185,339,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

Vertiv Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $35.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $75.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.10.

About Vertiv

Vertiv Holdings Co, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and services critical digital infrastructure technologies and life cycle services for data centers, communication networks, and commercial and industrial environments in the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.