Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Climb 9.7% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Vertiv shares surged 9.7% to about $200.62, with trading volume 14% above its daily average.
• The company beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $2.21 versus $1.82 expected and revenue of $4.31 billion versus $3.75 billion; revenue grew 61.2% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with an average price target of $337.78, though some firms recently cut their targets.

Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 9.7% on Monday. The stock traded as high as $203.30 and last traded at $200.6160. 7,518,726 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 14% from the average daily volume of 6,578,787 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Vertiv from $331.00 to $323.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vertiv from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price target on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Mizuho set a $300.00 price target on shares of Vertiv in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $360.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertiv has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $337.78.

Vertiv Trading Up 9.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $77.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 2.11. The business's fifty day moving average is $236.97 and its 200 day moving average is $269.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.39. Vertiv had a net margin of 15.99% and a return on equity of 53.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 61.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertiv Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 14th were given a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 14th. Vertiv's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertiv news, Director Edward Monser sold 15,287 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.82, for a total value of $3,880,146.34. Following the sale, the director owned 16,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,188,030. The trade was a 48.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,531,530 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,535,087,000 after acquiring an additional 704,970 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Vertiv by 14.1% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,794,360 shares of the company's stock worth $1,270,428,000 after acquiring an additional 468,380 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Vertiv by 1.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,138,967 shares of the company's stock worth $716,169,000 after acquiring an additional 23,444 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Vertiv by 1.9% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,709,276 shares of the company's stock valued at $678,890,000 after purchasing an additional 51,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Vertiv by 33.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,410,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $604,059,000 after purchasing an additional 608,176 shares during the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertiv Company Profile

Vertiv Holdings Co NYSE: VRT designs, manufactures and services critical digital infrastructure used by data centers, communications networks and commercial and industrial facilities. Its offerings help customers maintain reliable power, cooling and operating conditions for technology systems.

The company's products and solutions include uninterruptible power supplies, power distribution equipment, thermal management systems, racks, integrated modular infrastructure, and monitoring and control software.

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