StockNews.com Downgrades Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) to Buy

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson downgraded Valmont Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Valmont Industries from $387.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Valmont Industries Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Valmont Industries stock opened at $362.89 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $323.66 and its 200 day moving average is $311.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12 and a beta of 1.05. Valmont Industries has a 1 year low of $202.01 and a 1 year high of $379.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.21. Valmont Industries had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 23.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Valmont Industries will post 17.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mogens C. Bay sold 20,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 131,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,963,231.60. This represents a 13.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Valmont Industries

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Valmont Industries by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,990,839 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $610,531,000 after purchasing an additional 6,967 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 640,876 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $186,204,000 after buying an additional 6,913 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Valmont Industries by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 502,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $154,007,000 after buying an additional 94,884 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Valmont Industries by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 425,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,389,000 after buying an additional 9,201 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Valmont Industries by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 397,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $121,908,000 after acquiring an additional 16,302 shares during the last quarter. 87.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.