Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 14,168 Shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 418,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,168 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 2.08% of Valmont Industries worth $114,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VMI. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 32.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 54,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,836,000 after buying an additional 13,311 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Valmont Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $962,000. Wambolt & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 4,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,340,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valmont Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $399,000. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 65.3% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. 87.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VMI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Valmont Industries from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Valmont Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Valmont Industries from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.50.

Valmont Industries Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:VMI opened at $286.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.72 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $281.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $256.50. Valmont Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $188.63 and a 1 year high of $307.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.04 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 23.30% and a net margin of 4.09%. As a group, analysts expect that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Valmont Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Valmont Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Theodor Werner Freye sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.12, for a total value of $480,192.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,105,942.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Timothy P. Francis sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.49, for a total value of $686,527.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,826,998.79. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Theodor Werner Freye sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.12, for a total value of $480,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,105,942.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Valmont Industries 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.