Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Up 9.7% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT) shot up 9.7% on Monday. The company traded as high as $203.30 and last traded at $200.6160. 7,518,726 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 14% from the average daily volume of 6,578,787 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.86.

Recent Vertiv Headlines

Investors following VRT have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: Vertiv’s third-quarter revenue grew 61% year over year, while organic orders increased more than 100%, highlighting robust demand for data-center power and cooling equipment. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan initiated coverage with a $240 price target, above the share price cited in the report, although it assigned a Neutral rating. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent weakness across AI-power stocks reflects concerns about the sector’s near-term outlook and regulatory uncertainty around data-center development and power-grid costs. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Vertiv from $320.00 to $245.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Vertiv from $358.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Vertiv from $352.00 to $301.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Vertiv from $360.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price objective on Vertiv and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.70.

Vertiv Trading Up 6.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $234.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $269.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.63 billion, a PE ratio of 38.65, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 2.11.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.75 billion. Vertiv had a net margin of 15.99% and a return on equity of 53.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 61.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 7.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 14th were issued a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 14th. Vertiv’s payout ratio is presently 4.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Edward Monser sold 15,287 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.82, for a total value of $3,880,146.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,188,030. This trade represents a 48.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRT. State Street Corp grew its position in Vertiv by 4.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,531,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,535,087,000 after buying an additional 704,970 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,794,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,270,428,000 after acquiring an additional 468,380 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Vertiv by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,709,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,890,000 after acquiring an additional 51,328 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Vertiv by 33.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,410,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $604,059,000 after acquiring an additional 608,176 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Vertiv by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,138,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $716,169,000 after acquiring an additional 23,444 shares during the period. 89.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertiv Company Profile

Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE: VRT) designs, manufactures and services critical digital infrastructure used by data centers, communications networks and commercial and industrial facilities. Its offerings help customers maintain reliable power, cooling and operating conditions for technology systems. The company’s products and solutions include uninterruptible power supplies, power distribution equipment, thermal management systems, racks, integrated modular infrastructure, and monitoring and control software.