Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) Short Interest Update

Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 442,300 shares, an increase of 46.7% from the February 13th total of 301,500 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 130,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valmont Industries

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Valmont Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,158,000. Covea Finance raised its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Covea Finance now owns 15,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,661,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Valmont Industries during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $466,000. De Lisle Partners LLP lifted its position in Valmont Industries by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 18,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,454,000 after acquiring an additional 5,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in Valmont Industries by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 208,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $60,497,000 after acquiring an additional 23,765 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Valmont Industries Trading Up 2.6 %

VMI stock traded up $8.29 on Friday, hitting $327.63. 108,325 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 133,311. Valmont Industries has a twelve month low of $202.01 and a twelve month high of $379.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The business’s fifty day moving average is $330.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 0.98.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Valmont Industries will post 18.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Valmont Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is a positive change from Valmont Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Valmont Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VMI shares. DA Davidson lowered shares of Valmont Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Valmont Industries from $387.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Valmont Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Valmont Industries Company Profile

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.