Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Given New $678.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) had its price objective lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $645.00 to $678.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer set a $600.00 target price on Valmont Industries and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Valmont Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Valmont Industries from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of Valmont Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Valmont Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $582.00.

Valmont Industries Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:VMI opened at $526.43 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $539.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $476.36. The firm has a market cap of $10.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.23, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.38. Valmont Industries has a 52-week low of $331.90 and a 52-week high of $585.71.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $5.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.79. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 24.94% and a net margin of 8.91%.The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.85 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.32 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Valmont Industries will post 22.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 26th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 26th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Valmont Industries’s payout ratio is presently 17.10%.

Insider Transactions at Valmont Industries

In related news, Director Mogens C. Bay sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.34, for a total transaction of $8,615,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 112,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,294,213.06. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valmont Industries

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC grew its position in Valmont Industries by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in Valmont Industries by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 7,565 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,933,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in Valmont Industries by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in Valmont Industries by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 87.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Valmont Industries

Valmont Industries, Inc (NYSE: VMI) is a diversified industrial manufacturer specializing in infrastructure and agricultural products. Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, the company engages in the design, production and distribution of engineered products that support water management, power transmission, lighting and traffic infrastructure. Valmont’s solutions range from center-pivot and lateral-move irrigation systems to utility poles, transmission towers, lighting structures and highway traffic signal support structures.

The company operates through several core business segments.