Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on VMI. Zacks Research raised Valmont Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Valmont Industries from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Valmont Industries from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer set a $600.00 price objective on Valmont Industries and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Valmont Industries from $497.00 to $541.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $525.25.

Valmont Industries Price Performance

Shares of VMI stock opened at $519.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $460.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $440.09. Valmont Industries has a fifty-two week low of $310.00 and a fifty-two week high of $535.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.84 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Valmont Industries

In other news, Director Mogens C. Bay sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.34, for a total value of $8,615,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 112,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,294,213.06. The trade was a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valmont Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

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.