Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Sells 75 Shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) by 26.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 208 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Valmont Industries were worth $64,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VMI. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Valmont Industries by 40.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,332,000 after buying an additional 3,284 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Valmont Industries during the third quarter worth about $219,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Valmont Industries during the third quarter worth about $392,000. Colonial River Investments LLC bought a new stake in Valmont Industries during the third quarter worth about $393,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Valmont Industries by 33.4% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 1,578 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. 87.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VMI. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Valmont Industries from $387.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. DA Davidson lowered shares of Valmont Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Valmont Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th.

Valmont Industries Price Performance

Shares of VMI stock opened at $328.26 on Monday. Valmont Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $202.01 and a 1 year high of $379.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $329.39 and its 200-day moving average is $316.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.21. Valmont Industries had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 23.15%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Valmont Industries, Inc. will post 18.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valmont Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.68 dividend. This is a positive change from Valmont Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Valmont Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.83%.

About Valmont Industries

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.