TCW Group Inc. Purchases 125,130 Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT)

Key Points

• TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vertiv Holdings Co. by 25.5%, owning 616,319 shares worth approximately $44.5 million, as per its latest 13F filing.
• Vertiv recently declared a dividend of $0.0375, which marks an increase from its previous dividend of $0.01, resulting in a dividend yield of 0.14%.
• Analysts generally view Vertiv positively, with three analysts rating it a hold, fifteen a buy, and three a strong buy, leading to an average target price of $136.76.

TCW Group Inc. raised its position in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) by 25.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 616,319 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 125,130 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc. owned 0.16% of Vertiv worth $44,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertiv in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its position in Vertiv by 4,120.0% in the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 422 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertiv by 242.0% in the first quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 448 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in shares of Vertiv by 211.9% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 315 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.92% of the company's stock.

Vertiv Price Performance

VRT stock traded up $0.98 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $143.68. 12,910,511 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,488,400. Vertiv Holdings Co. has a one year low of $53.60 and a one year high of $155.84. The stock has a market cap of $54.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.12. Vertiv had a net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 56.01%. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.0375 per share. This is a boost from Vertiv's previous dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.14%. Vertiv's payout ratio is currently 8.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Melius raised Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vertiv from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Vertiv from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $137.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertiv news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.83, for a total value of $5,059,801.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,292.33. The trade was a 82.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Karsten Winther sold 5,500 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.33, for a total transaction of $518,815.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,777,837.51. The trade was a 22.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Vertiv

Vertiv Holdings Co, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and services critical digital infrastructure technologies and life cycle services for data centers, communication networks, and commercial and industrial environments in the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.