Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 94,884 Shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 502,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 94,884 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Valmont Industries were worth $154,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Valmont Industries by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 349,426 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,316,000 after acquiring an additional 13,509 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in shares of Valmont Industries in the third quarter worth $313,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Valmont Industries in the third quarter worth $58,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Valmont Industries in the third quarter valued at about $787,000. Finally, Petrus Trust Company LTA bought a new stake in Valmont Industries during the third quarter worth about $842,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Valmont Industries from $387.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 29th. DA Davidson cut Valmont Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, William Blair lowered Valmont Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st.

Valmont Industries Price Performance

VMI stock opened at $296.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $326.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $320.51. Valmont Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $202.01 and a 1 year high of $379.22.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Valmont Industries had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 23.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.18 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 18.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. This is a positive change from Valmont Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Valmont Industries’s payout ratio is presently 15.83%.

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.