Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Up 12.7% on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) shares rose 12.7% on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $86.93 and last traded at $80.97. Approximately 11,318,432 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 25% from the average daily volume of 9,046,101 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.82.

The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.02. Vertiv had a return on equity of 61.41% and a net margin of 6.19%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion.

Vertiv Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.0375 dividend. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Vertiv’s payout ratio is currently 8.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VRT shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Vertiv from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Vertiv from $132.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Vertiv in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on Vertiv from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Vertiv from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.38.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Vertiv in the fourth quarter valued at about $597,379,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Vertiv during the 4th quarter valued at about $391,777,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Vertiv by 68.6% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,754,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $880,971,000 after acquiring an additional 3,153,932 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Vertiv by 136.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,336,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,356,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,130,415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244,780 shares during the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertiv Stock Up 7.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $31.89 billion, a PE ratio of 65.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $81.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.71.

Vertiv Company Profile

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.