Valmont Industries, Inc. $VMI Shares Bought by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) by 14.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,913 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Valmont Industries were worth $7,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Valmont Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,141,369,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Valmont Industries in the second quarter valued at approximately $175,408,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 43.6% in the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 343,510 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $159,044,000 after buying an additional 104,259 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 4.6% in the third quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 198,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,971,000 after buying an additional 8,651 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Valmont Industries during the second quarter worth $83,723,000. Institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Valmont Industries Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:VMI opened at $422.20 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $455.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $476.34. Valmont Industries, Inc. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.39.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The industrial products company reported $6.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.70 by $0.54. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 26.25% and a net margin of 12.05%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.98 earnings per share. Valmont Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 23.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 24th. Valmont Industries’s payout ratio is presently 11.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

About Valmont Industries

Valmont Industries designs and manufactures products used in infrastructure and agriculture. Founded in 1946, the company has grown from a maker of steel irrigation equipment into a global provider of engineered products and services. Its infrastructure business supplies utility structures, poles and towers, lighting and traffic products, telecommunications structures, and protective coatings. These products support electric power, transportation, communications, and other infrastructure markets.