Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading 8.4% Higher After Dividend Announcement

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) was up 8.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $133.46 and last traded at $133.40. Approximately 4,085,914 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 8,146,420 shares. The stock had previously closed at $123.02.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.0375 dividend. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.11%. This is a boost from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Vertiv from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $138.50.

Vertiv Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $52.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.96, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.27.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. Vertiv had a return on equity of 55.33% and a net margin of 7.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertiv

In other news, insider Karsten Winther sold 44,924 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.99, for a total transaction of $3,593,470.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,254.58. The trade was a 80.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRT. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Vertiv by 10,825.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,600,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,695,000 after acquiring an additional 4,558,306 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the second quarter worth approximately $331,091,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Vertiv by 303.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,777,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,143,000 after purchasing an additional 3,591,903 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Vertiv by 271.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,915,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,548,000 after buying an additional 2,860,181 shares during the period. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its position in Vertiv by 215.6% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 1,864,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,492,000 after buying an additional 1,273,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

Vertiv Company Profile

Vertiv Holdings Co, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and services critical digital infrastructure technologies and life cycle services for data centers, communication networks, and commercial and industrial environments in the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.