Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $326.58, but opened at $305.17. Valmont Industries shares last traded at $301.24, with a volume of 46,735 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VMI shares. DA Davidson cut Valmont Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. William Blair cut Valmont Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Valmont Industries from $387.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Valmont Industries Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $332.53 and a 200-day moving average of $318.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.21. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 23.15% and a net margin of 8.55%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 18.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. This is a boost from Valmont Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Valmont Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 15.83%.

Institutional Trading of Valmont Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $610,531,000 after acquiring an additional 6,967 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Valmont Industries by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 640,876 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $186,204,000 after acquiring an additional 6,913 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Valmont Industries by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 502,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $154,007,000 after acquiring an additional 94,884 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Valmont Industries by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 425,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,389,000 after acquiring an additional 9,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Valmont Industries by 4.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

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.