Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Takes Position in Valmont Industries, Inc. $VMI

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 1,361 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $544,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VMI. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Valmont Industries by 8.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 422,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $164,009,000 after purchasing an additional 32,382 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 369,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $148,509,000 after buying an additional 12,480 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 290,948 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,809,000 after acquiring an additional 8,715 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $108,884,000 after acquiring an additional 153,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Valmont Industries by 3.7% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 252,605 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,933,000 after acquiring an additional 9,130 shares in the last quarter. 87.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valmont Industries Stock Performance

NYSE VMI opened at $532.89 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $539.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $475.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Valmont Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $329.21 and a 12-month high of $585.71. The firm has a market cap of $10.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.59, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.33.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $5.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.79. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 24.94% and a net margin of 8.91%.The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.85 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.32 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 22.83 EPS for the current year.

Valmont Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 26th were paid 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 was Friday, June 26th. Valmont Industries’s payout ratio is presently 17.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on VMI shares. Wall Street Zen raised Valmont Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings raised Valmont Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Valmont Industries from $541.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Oppenheimer set a $600.00 price objective on Valmont Industries and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Valmont Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $573.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mogens C. Bay sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 112,309 shares in the company, valued at $55,294,213.06. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.