Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading 2.8% Higher Following Dividend Announcement

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) shares traded up 2.8% during trading on Monday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $125.84 and last traded at $124.24. 1,534,066 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 8,142,675 shares. The stock had previously closed at $120.87.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.0375 per share. This is a positive change from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.12%. Vertiv’s payout ratio is currently 6.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRT. Citigroup raised their price target on Vertiv from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Vertiv in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Vertiv from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $125.40.

Vertiv Trading Up 4.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $47.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $105.37 and a 200-day moving average of $93.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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. This trade represents a 80.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRT. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Vertiv by 15.4% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,553,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,013,000 after purchasing an additional 340,639 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 7.2% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 127,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,656,000 after purchasing an additional 8,579 shares in the last quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertiv in the third quarter worth $8,403,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Vertiv by 190.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 55,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,564,000 after purchasing an additional 36,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP raised its stake in Vertiv by 42.4% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 31,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after purchasing an additional 9,479 shares in the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.