Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Price Target Raised to $678.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target on Valmont Industries to $678 from $645 and reiterated a buy rating, implying about 27.7% upside from the current price.
• Valmont Industries has seen a wave of bullish analyst updates, including upgrades from Weiss Ratings, Wall Street Zen, and Zacks, while JPMorgan and Oppenheimer also lifted their targets. The stock now carries a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $582.
• The company recently reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.51 beating estimates and revenue of $1.03 billion topping forecasts. Shares were trading at $531.09 on Monday, near the upper end of their 52-week range.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $645.00 to $678.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price objective would suggest a potential upside of 27.66% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Valmont Industries from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Valmont Industries from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Zacks Research upgraded Valmont Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Valmont Industries from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $600.00 price target on shares of Valmont Industries and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valmont Industries has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $582.00.

Valmont Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VMI traded down $0.57 on Monday, hitting $531.09. 35,725 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 196,791. Valmont Industries has a 1-year low of $331.90 and a 1-year high of $585.71. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $539.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $475.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $5.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $994.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.32 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Valmont Industries will post 22.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Valmont Industries

In other news, Director Mogens C. Bay sold 17,500 shares of Valmont Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 112,309 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,294,213.06. The trade was a 13.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Valmont Industries

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robert B. Daugherty Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Valmont Industries during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $100,580,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Valmont Industries in the 4th quarter worth $99,799,000. Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new position in Valmont Industries during the fourth quarter worth $66,103,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Valmont Industries by 118.8% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 282,610 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $108,884,000 after acquiring an additional 153,418 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in Valmont Industries by 179.6% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 117,342 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $38,320,000 after purchasing an additional 75,377 shares in the last quarter. 87.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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