Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $528.61 and last traded at $521.75, with a volume of 13262 shares. The stock had previously closed at $513.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on VMI shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Valmont Industries from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Valmont Industries from $497.00 to $541.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Valmont Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Valmont Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valmont Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $500.33.

Valmont Industries Stock Up 3.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a PE ratio of 29.40 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $451.44 and its 200-day moving average is $437.04.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $5.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.72 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.85 million. Valmont Industries had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 24.94%. Valmont Industries’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 22.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Valmont Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valmont Industries news, Director Mogens C. Bay sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.34, for a total transaction of $8,615,950.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 112,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,294,213.06. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valmont Industries

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 12.8% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 23,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,439,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 31.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 125,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,309,000 after acquiring an additional 30,359 shares in the last quarter. Bull Harbor Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries in the first quarter worth $276,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 22.8% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 23,214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,276,000 after acquiring an additional 4,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 61.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $591,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.