Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a moderately bullish view: Valmont Industries has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with four buys and two holds. The average 12-month price target is $587, above the reported opening price of $472.49.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: The company reported $6.14 in EPS versus the $5.80 consensus estimate and $1.12 billion in revenue versus $1.09 billion expected. Revenue increased 6.5% year over year.
• Valmont declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, equivalent to $3.08 annually and a 0.7% yield, with payment scheduled for October 15 to shareholders of record on September 25.

Shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $587.00.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Valmont Industries from $645.00 to $678.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Oppenheimer set a $600.00 target price on shares of Valmont Industries and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Valmont Industries from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Valmont Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Valmont Industries from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Valmont Industries Stock Performance

VMI opened at $472.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Valmont Industries has a twelve month low of $361.50 and a twelve month high of $585.71. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $491.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $487.39.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 25.57% and a net margin of 11.70%.The business's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Valmont Industries will post 23.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 25th. Valmont Industries's payout ratio is 11.99%.

Insider Activity at Valmont Industries

In other Valmont Industries news, Director Theodor Freye sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 2,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John Schwietz acquired 208 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $486.14 per share, with a total value of $101,117.12. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,454,530.88. This represents a 7.47% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Valmont Industries

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 33.6% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 34,510 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $19,933,000 after buying an additional 8,670 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $801,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 956 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 72.6% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 547 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the 2nd quarter worth $210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.84% of the company's stock.

Valmont Industries Company Profile

Valmont Industries, Inc is a global manufacturer of engineered products and services serving the infrastructure and agricultural markets. Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, the company operates through its Infrastructure and Agriculture segments.

Valmont's Infrastructure segment provides utility and substation structures, engineered poles, lighting and traffic structures, wireless communication infrastructure, transportation products, and protective coatings for steel and other materials.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.