Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Vertiv Holdings Co. $VRT

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group dramatically increased its Vertiv stake in Q1, boosting holdings by 4,431.3% to 432,873 shares worth about $108.5 million.
• Vertiv continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with hedge funds and other investors owning 89.92% of the stock; several firms also added positions recently.
• Analysts remain mostly bullish despite some mixed ratings, with an average Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $343.50, while Vertiv also posted strong quarterly results and raised guidance.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) by 4,431.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 432,873 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 423,320 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Vertiv worth $108,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Vertiv by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,694,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,408,661,000 after buying an additional 235,577 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Vertiv by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,065,912 shares of the company's stock worth $1,141,723,000 after acquiring an additional 143,821 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Vertiv by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,974,205 shares of the company's stock worth $967,881,000 after acquiring an additional 121,618 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Vertiv in the 4th quarter worth approximately $808,701,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,811,745 shares of the company's stock worth $455,531,000 after acquiring an additional 97,141 shares during the period. 89.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $260.00 price objective (down from $280.00) on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Vertiv from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 target price on Vertiv in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Vertiv from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Fox Advisors upgraded shares of Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $343.50.

Vertiv Trading Up 0.5%

Vertiv stock opened at $305.16 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $322.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $268.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.21 billion, a PE ratio of 76.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 2.03. Vertiv Holdings Co. has a 12-month low of $118.70 and a 12-month high of $379.93.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.17. Vertiv had a return on equity of 49.90% and a net margin of 14.37%.The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Vertiv has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.370-1.430 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 6.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Vertiv's payout ratio is currently 6.28%.

Vertiv Company Profile

Vertiv is a global provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions for data centers, communication networks and commercial and industrial environments. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, the company designs, manufactures and services equipment and software that support power availability, thermal management and IT infrastructure management for a broad set of end markets, including hyperscale and enterprise data centers, colocation providers, telecom operators and industrial customers.

The company's product portfolio includes uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), power distribution units (PDUs), battery and DC power systems, precision cooling and thermal management equipment, racks and enclosures, and integrated modular infrastructure.

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