Mogens Bay Sells 17,500 Shares of Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Stock

Key Points

• Director Mogens Bay sold 17,500 shares on April 24 at an average price of $492.34 for about $8.62 million, reducing his stake by 13.48% to 112,309 shares valued at roughly $55.29 million.
• Valmont beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $5.51 versus $4.72 and revenue of $1.03 billion (up 6.2% YoY), and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 ($3.08 annual, ~0.6% yield).
• Shares traded near $497.14 (close to a 12‑month high of $503.91) giving a market cap of about $9.72 billion; analysts have raised targets (Stifel to $541) and the consensus target is roughly $500.33 with a "Moderate Buy" average rating.

Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI - Get Free Report) Director Mogens Bay sold 17,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 112,309 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,294,213.06. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Valmont Industries Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:VMI traded down $0.86 on Tuesday, reaching $497.14. 164,846 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 181,263. The company has a market capitalization of $9.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.60 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Valmont Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $286.50 and a 12 month high of $503.91. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $429.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.42.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $5.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.72 by $0.79. Valmont Industries had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 24.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $994.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.32 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 22.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 26th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Valmont Industries's payout ratio is currently 17.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valmont Industries

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Valmont Industries by 8.3% during 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. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Valmont Industries by 1.7% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 399,388 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $154,855,000 after purchasing an additional 6,799 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Valmont Industries by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 369,059 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $148,509,000 after purchasing an additional 12,480 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Valmont Industries by 3.1% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 290,948 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $112,809,000 after purchasing an additional 8,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in Valmont Industries by 1.2% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 283,740 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $110,015,000 after purchasing an additional 3,379 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Valmont Industries from $497.00 to $541.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Valmont Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Valmont Industries from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Valmont Industries in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Valmont Industries from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $500.33.

Valmont Industries Company 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.

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.