Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Sets New 12-Month High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $94.39 and last traded at $90.88, with a volume of 8073047 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $79.17.

The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.06. Vertiv had a net margin of 6.71% and a return on equity of 39.46%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. Vertiv’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Vertiv Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.11%. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VRT shares. Bank of America increased their target price on Vertiv from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Vertiv from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Vertiv from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Vertiv from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Vertiv from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertiv news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 306,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.24, for a total value of $21,507,207.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,641,311.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 306,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.24, for a total transaction of $21,507,207.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,641,311.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Scott Cripps sold 56,594 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.76, for a total value of $4,004,591.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC grew its position in Vertiv by 90.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 3rd quarter valued at about $331,000. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 3rd quarter valued at about $542,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,241,000. 89.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertiv Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $75.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.10. The stock has a market cap of $34.51 billion, a PE ratio of 76.57, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

About Vertiv

Vertiv Holdings Co, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and services critical digital infrastructure technologies and life cycle services for data centers, communication networks, and commercial and industrial environments in the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.