Valmont Industries, Inc. $VMI Shares Acquired by Leuthold Group LLC

Leuthold Group LLC raised its position in shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) by 983.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,437 shares during the quarter. Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings in Valmont Industries were worth $4,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Valmont Industries during the third quarter valued at approximately $739,000. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valmont Industries during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,658,000. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 85,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,336,000 after acquiring an additional 10,518 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valmont Industries during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,663,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 1.2% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 283,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $110,015,000 after acquiring an additional 3,379 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VMI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Valmont Industries in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised Valmont Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Valmont Industries from $497.00 to $541.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Valmont Industries from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Valmont Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $500.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mogens C. Bay sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.34, for a total value of $8,615,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 112,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,294,213.06. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Valmont Industries Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Valmont Industries stock opened at $506.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11 and a beta of 1.36. Valmont Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $305.07 and a fifty-two week high of $528.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $442.24 and a 200 day moving average of $433.05.

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

Valmont Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 26th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 26th. Valmont Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.10%.

Valmont Industries Company Profile

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.