First Nebraska Trust Co Makes New $635,000 Investment in Valmont Industries, Inc. $VMI

First Nebraska Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $635,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries in the second quarter worth $1,141,369,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Valmont Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $99,799,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 118.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 282,610 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $108,884,000 after buying an additional 153,418 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Valmont Industries in the 2nd quarter worth $83,723,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in Valmont Industries by 179.6% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 117,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,320,000 after buying an additional 75,377 shares during the period. 87.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valmont Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VMI opened at $486.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $524.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $485.67. Valmont Industries, Inc. 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.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Valmont Industries had a net margin of 11.70% and a return on equity of 25.57%. Valmont Industries’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 23.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 25th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 11.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VMI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer set a $600.00 price target on Valmont Industries and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered Valmont Industries from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research cut Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Valmont Industries from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $587.00.

Insider Activity

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