Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Valmont Industries from $345.00 to $382.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Valmont Industries in a research report on Friday, September 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $480.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Valmont Industries from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valmont Industries in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $443.33.

Valmont Industries Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE VMI opened at $408.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a PE ratio of 38.00 and a beta of 1.15. Valmont Industries has a 1-year low of $250.07 and a 1-year high of $414.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $381.98 and a 200-day moving average of $342.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.78 by $0.10. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 22.10% and a net margin of 5.98%.The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.91 EPS. Valmont Industries’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Valmont Industries will post 18.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Timothy P. Francis sold 2,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,494,135.92. The trade was a 22.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 2.7% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 525,890 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $171,740,000 after purchasing an additional 13,578 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 429,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $122,682,000 after buying an additional 4,722 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Valmont Industries by 83.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 390,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $127,563,000 after buying an additional 177,749 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Valmont Industries by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $115,704,000 after buying an additional 1,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in Valmont Industries by 0.8% during the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 313,588 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $102,408,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. 87.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.