William Blair Downgrades Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) to Market Perform

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) was downgraded by investment analysts at William Blair from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports.

VMI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Valmont Industries from $387.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com lowered Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson lowered Valmont Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

Valmont Industries Stock Performance

Shares of VMI stock opened at $285.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.07. Valmont Industries has a fifty-two week low of $202.01 and a fifty-two week high of $379.22. The company has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $332.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $319.07.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.21. Valmont Industries had a return on equity of 23.15% and a net margin of 8.55%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.18 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Valmont Industries will post 18.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valmont Industries

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Valmont Industries in the third quarter worth $35,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Valmont Industries during the third quarter valued at $58,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 175.7% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 395.1% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 35.9% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Valmont Industries Company 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.