Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Sets New 12-Month High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $94.39 and last traded at $90.88, with a volume of 8073047 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $79.17.

The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Vertiv had a net margin of 6.71% and a return on equity of 39.46%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS.

Vertiv Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VRT shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Vertiv from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertiv presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertiv

In other Vertiv news, CAO Scott Cripps sold 56,594 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.76, for a total transaction of $4,004,591.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 306,196 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.24, for a total value of $21,507,207.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,641,311.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Scott Cripps sold 56,594 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.76, for a total transaction of $4,004,591.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,040,000. WT Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Vertiv during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,486,000. CenterBook Partners LP raised its stake in Vertiv by 82.0% during the 3rd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 174,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,508,000 after acquiring an additional 78,793 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in Vertiv by 791.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 92,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,445,000 after acquiring an additional 82,239 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Vertiv by 244.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 41,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,016,000 after acquiring an additional 29,804 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

Vertiv Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.74. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.51 billion, a PE ratio of 76.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.59.

About Vertiv

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.