Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Stock Price Up 8.4% Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) rose 8.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $133.46 and last traded at $133.40. Approximately 4,085,914 shares were traded 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.0375 per share. This is an increase from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.11%. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Vertiv from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Vertiv in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.60.

Vertiv Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $49.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $106.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.93.

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

Insider Activity at Vertiv

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Vertiv by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,951 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new position in Vertiv in the first quarter valued at approximately $284,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertiv by 1,019.3% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 3,649 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Vertiv by 31.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 37.0% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 3,114 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

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.