Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Lowered to "Hold" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Valmont Industries has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a cautious outlook on the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, other analysts maintain a Moderate Buy rating and have set an average target price of $391.00 for Valmont Industries shares.
• In its latest earnings report, Valmont Industries reported earnings per share of $4.88, exceeding estimates, although revenue growth was only 1.0% year-over-year.

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Sunday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on VMI. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Valmont Industries from $345.00 to $382.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Valmont Industries from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $391.00.

Valmont Industries Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of VMI stock traded down $12.94 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $373.76. The company had a trading volume of 193,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 215,649. The company's fifty day moving average is $362.21 and its 200 day moving average is $328.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Valmont Industries has a fifty-two week low of $250.07 and a fifty-two week high of $388.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 34.80 and a beta of 1.14.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.78 by $0.10. Valmont Industries had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 22.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.91 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Valmont Industries has set its FY 2025 guidance at 17.500-19.500 EPS. Research analysts expect that Valmont Industries will post 18.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 26th. Valmont Industries's payout ratio is 25.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valmont Industries news, CAO Timothy P. Francis sold 2,867 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.52, for a total transaction of $1,027,876.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,746 shares in the company, valued at $3,494,135.92. The trade was a 22.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 87.7% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 93.9% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 128 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.84% of the company's stock.

Valmont Industries Company Profile

Valmont Industries, Inc operates as manufacturer of products and services for infrastructure and agriculture markets in the United States, Australia, Brazil, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Infrastructure and Agriculture. The company manufactures and distributes steel, pre-stressed concrete, composite structures for electrical transmission, substation, and distribution applications; and designs, engineers, and manufactures metal, steel, wood, aluminum, and composite poles and structures for lighting and transportation applications.