Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $508.86 and last traded at $508.2260, with a volume of 75143 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $491.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VMI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Valmont Industries in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Valmont Industries from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research upgraded Valmont Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Valmont Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Valmont Industries from $497.00 to $541.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $500.33.

Valmont Industries Stock Up 0.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $432.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $426.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.37 and a beta of 1.36.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 24.94% and a net margin of 8.91%.The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $994.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 22.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 26th. Valmont Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.10%.

Insider Transactions at Valmont Industries

In other Valmont Industries news, Director Mogens C. Bay sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.34, for a total transaction of $8,615,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 112,309 shares in the company, valued at $55,294,213.06. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the third quarter worth $25,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 87.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.