Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Valmont Industries from $645.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Valmont Industries from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research cut Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Valmont Industries from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $587.00.

Valmont Industries Price Performance

VMI stock opened at $467.30 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $479.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $493.40. The company has a market capitalization of $9.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.34. Valmont Industries has a 52-week low of $378.02 and a 52-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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Valmont Industries will post 23.08 EPS for the current year.

Valmont Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 25th will be given 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 0.7%. Valmont Industries’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Theodor Freye sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $495.00, for a total transaction 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 represents a 22.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John L. Schwietz bought 208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $486.14 per share, with a total value of $101,117.12. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,454,530.88. The trade was a 7.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Valmont Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VMI. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 6.4% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Balefire LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 5.1% during the first quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 52.2% during the third quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 102 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 5.6% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 6.3% during the second quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

About Valmont Industries

Valmont Industries, Inc is a global manufacturer of engineered products and services that support infrastructure, agriculture and industrial applications. Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, the company serves customers in North America and international markets.

Its infrastructure businesses produce utility poles and structures, towers, steel and aluminum structures, lighting and traffic-support systems, and other products used in electrical transmission and distribution, telecommunications, transportation and commercial development.