Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Up 4.9% After Earnings Beat

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) was up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $90.46 and last traded at $88.72. Approximately 6,834,540 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 13% from the average daily volume of 7,879,651 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.57.

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

Vertiv Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Vertiv from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Vertiv from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Vertiv from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho upped their target price on Vertiv from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Vertiv from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertiv presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRT. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Vertiv by 161.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Vertiv in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Vertiv by 79.0% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 571 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertiv in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vertiv in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

Vertiv Trading Up 6.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.10. The firm has a market cap of $34.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.59.

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.