Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research cut Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Valmont Industries from $645.00 to $678.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Valmont Industries from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Valmont Industries from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valmont Industries has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $587.00.

Valmont Industries Stock Performance

Shares of VMI opened at $426.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.34. Valmont Industries has a one year low of $378.02 and a one year high of $585.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $464.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $477.21.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The industrial products company reported $6.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.70 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Valmont Industries had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 26.25%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.98 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Valmont Industries will post 23.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valmont Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VMI. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,141,369,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $175,408,000. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 198,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,971,000 after purchasing an additional 8,651 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the second quarter valued at approximately $83,723,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,308,000. 87.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Valmont Industries

Valmont Industries, Inc is a global manufacturer of engineered products and services serving the infrastructure and agricultural markets. Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, the company operates through businesses focused on infrastructure, coatings, and water management.

Its infrastructure products include utility and transmission structures, lighting and traffic poles, highway and transportation structures, and related support systems. Valmont also provides hot-dip galvanizing and other protective coatings designed to extend the service life of steel products used in industrial, infrastructure, and commercial applications.

In agriculture, the company manufactures mechanized irrigation equipment, including center-pivot and linear irrigation systems, as well as agricultural products and services intended to support water conservation and crop production.