Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 234,300 shares, a decrease of 47.0% from the February 28th total of 442,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 145,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valmont Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 271,604 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,752,000 after purchasing an additional 3,501 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Valmont Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $558,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Valmont Industries by 371.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 21,927 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,338,000 after buying an additional 17,278 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Valmont Industries by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 349,426 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,316,000 after buying an additional 13,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Valmont Industries during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,588,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Valmont Industries Price Performance

Shares of Valmont Industries stock traded down $9.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $289.99. The stock had a trading volume of 114,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 147,702. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $329.60 and its 200 day moving average is $320.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Valmont Industries has a twelve month low of $202.01 and a twelve month high of $379.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88 and a beta of 0.98.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 23.15% and a net margin of 8.55%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.18 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Valmont Industries will post 18.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis 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 (DPR) is currently 15.83%.

About Valmont Industries

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.