Vestcor Inc Cuts Position in Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI)

Vestcor Inc lowered its stake in shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI - Free Report) by 41.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,600 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,875 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Valmont Industries were worth $797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VMI. State Street Corp grew its position in Valmont Industries by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 640,876 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $186,204,000 after acquiring an additional 6,913 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Valmont Industries by 57.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 407,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $123,512,000 after purchasing an additional 148,811 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 349,426 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $101,316,000 after purchasing an additional 13,509 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 335,926 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,428,000 after purchasing an additional 4,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 292,901 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $84,927,000 after buying an additional 24,224 shares during the period. 87.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Valmont Industries Trading Up 2.5 %

Valmont Industries stock traded up $8.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $330.58. 122,171 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 138,073. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $331.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $318.63. Valmont Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $202.01 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 0.98.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Valmont Industries had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 23.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.18 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 18.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. This is a boost from Valmont Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Valmont Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VMI shares. DA Davidson lowered shares of Valmont Industries from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $380.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com cut Valmont Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Valmont Industries from $387.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th.

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.