Short Interest in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT) Increases By 425.7%

Key Points

• Short interest in Vertiv Holdings Co. increased by 425.7% in July, totaling 9,620,000 shares compared to 1,830,000 shares in June, with a short-interest ratio of 1.3 days based on average daily trading volume.
• Vertiv reported earnings of $0.95 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.83, and achieving a 35.1% increase in revenue year over year.
• The company announced an increase in its dividend to $0.0375 per share, representing a yield of 14.0%, up from the previous dividend of $0.01.

Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 9,620,000 shares, anincreaseof425.7% from the June 30th total of 1,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Based on an average daily volume of 7,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Vertiv Trading Down 2.7%

NYSE:VRT opened at $141.66 on Friday. Vertiv has a 12-month low of $53.60 and a 12-month high of $155.84. The firm has a market cap of $53.99 billion, a PE ratio of 67.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $122.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.68.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.12. Vertiv had a return on equity of 51.64% and a net margin of 8.93%. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Vertiv's revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertiv will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a dividend of $0.0375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This is an increase from Vertiv's previous dividend of $0.01. This represents a dividend yield of 14.0%. Vertiv's payout ratio is presently 7.18%.

Insider Activity at Vertiv

In related news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.83, for a total transaction of $5,059,801.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,292.33. This trade represents a 82.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karsten Winther sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.33, for a total transaction of $518,815.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 18,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,777,837.51. This trade represents a 22.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 15,079 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Vertiv by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 327,293 shares of the company's stock worth $37,184,000 after purchasing an additional 138,871 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Vertiv by 58.0% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 9,740 shares of the company's stock worth $1,107,000 after buying an additional 3,576 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 187.2% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 1,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 4th quarter valued at $11,400,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Melius Research raised shares of Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $134.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Melius raised shares of Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Vertiv from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays set a $128.00 price target on shares of Vertiv and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their price objective on Vertiv from $100.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertiv presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.06.

Vertiv Company Profile

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.

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