Sunbelt Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Valmont Industries in the third quarter worth $209,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 335,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,428,000 after acquiring an additional 4,940 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in shares of Valmont Industries by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 4,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc bought a new position in Valmont Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,613,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Valmont Industries by 91.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,488 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,200,000 after purchasing an additional 6,927 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valmont Industries news, Director Mogens C. Bay sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.48, for a total transaction of $5,380,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 154,730 shares in the company, valued at $48,968,950.40. This represents a 9.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP R Andrew Massey sold 3,977 shares of Valmont Industries stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $1,252,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,408 shares in the company, valued at $2,963,520. This represents a 29.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,977 shares of company stock worth $13,950,095 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Valmont Industries Price Performance

Shares of VMI stock opened at $327.82 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $327.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $294.75. Valmont Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $202.01 and a one year high of $354.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $4.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.00 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 23.10% and a net margin of 7.38%. Valmont Industries’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 16.85 EPS for the current year.

Valmont Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Valmont Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VMI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their target price on Valmont Industries from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Valmont Industries from $360.00 to $382.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Valmont Industries 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.