Valmont Industries, Inc. $VMI Stock: Ninety One North America Inc. Decreases Stake

Key Points

• Ninety One North America reduced its Valmont Industries stake by 16.6% in the third quarter, selling 4,620 shares and retaining 23,289 shares valued at approximately $10.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 87.84% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with Valmont carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $587. JPMorgan and Stifel recently raised their price targets, although Zacks Research and Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock to “Hold.”
• Valmont reported quarterly EPS of $6.14, exceeding estimates of $5.80, while revenue rose 6.5% year over year to $1.12 billion. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, equivalent to a 0.7% annualized yield.

Ninety One North America Inc. lowered its holdings in Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI - Free Report) by 16.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,289 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,620 shares during the quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. owned 0.12% of Valmont Industries worth $10,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries in the second quarter worth $1,141,369,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Valmont Industries during the second quarter worth $175,408,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Valmont Industries by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 252,605 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $100,933,000 after purchasing an additional 9,130 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Valmont Industries by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 160,180 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $64,003,000 after purchasing an additional 42,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Valmont Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at $83,723,000. 87.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on VMI shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Valmont Industries from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of 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 report on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Valmont Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Valmont Industries from $645.00 to $678.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valmont Industries currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $587.00.

Valmont Industries Price Performance

VMI traded down $12.41 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $452.92. 93,922 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 195,237. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Valmont Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $378.02 and a one year high of $585.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $477.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $494.34.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.80 by $0.34. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 25.57% and a net margin of 11.70%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.88 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 23.03 EPS for the current year.

Valmont Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 25th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 25th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Valmont Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John Schwietz bought 208 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $486.14 per share, with a total value of $101,117.12. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 2,992 shares in the company, valued at $1,454,530.88. This trade represents a 7.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Theodor Freye sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $495.00, for a total transaction of $396,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,388,475. This trade represents a 22.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Valmont Industries Profile

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.

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