Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) Holdings Trimmed by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) by 30.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,124 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 20,613 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Valmont Industries worth $13,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Valmont Industries by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 640,876 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $186,204,000 after acquiring an additional 6,913 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 3.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 418,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $114,919,000 after purchasing an additional 14,168 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 57.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 407,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $123,512,000 after purchasing an additional 148,811 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 349,426 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,316,000 after purchasing an additional 13,509 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Valmont Industries by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 335,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,428,000 after purchasing an additional 4,940 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Valmont Industries Price Performance

Shares of VMI opened at $306.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 20.82 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $330.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $298.61. Valmont Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $202.01 and a twelve month high of $354.13.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $4.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.00 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Valmont Industries had a net margin of 7.38% and a return on equity of 23.10%. Valmont Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 16.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Valmont Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 16.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VMI shares. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Valmont Industries from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Valmont Industries from $360.00 to $382.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Daas Kaj Den sold 1,000 shares of Valmont Industries stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.78, for a total value of $338,780.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,928,414.32. The trade was a 10.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mogens C. Bay sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.92, for a total value of $6,978,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 131,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,963,231.60. This represents a 13.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,977 shares of company stock worth $13,950,095. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Valmont Industries

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.