Trillium Asset Management LLC Purchases New Position in Valmont Industries, Inc. $VMI

Trillium Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 48,505 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,017,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in Valmont Industries by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $927,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Valmont Industries by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 0.4% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 7,565 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,933,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balefire LLC increased its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 5.1% during the first quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VMI. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. Wall Street Zen cut Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Valmont Industries from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Valmont Industries from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $600.00 target price on shares of Valmont Industries and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valmont Industries presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $587.00.

Valmont Industries Stock Performance

Shares of VMI opened at $482.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Valmont Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $360.41 and a 52-week high of $585.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $525.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $485.66. The company has a market capitalization of $9.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.35.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.34. Valmont Industries had a net margin of 11.70% and a return on equity of 25.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 23.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 25th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Valmont Industries’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John L. Schwietz purchased 208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $486.14 per share, for a total transaction of $101,117.12. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,454,530.88. The trade was a 7.47% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Theodor Werner Freye sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $495.00, for a total value of $396,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,388,475. The trade was a 22.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.42% 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.