Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Up 6% – What’s Next?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) rose 6% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $135.09 and last traded at $133.18. Approximately 3,736,421 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 5,246,454 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRT has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $142.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Vertiv from $115.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.92.

Vertiv Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $50.38 billion, a PE ratio of 89.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.75.

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

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.0375 dividend. This is an increase from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.38, for a total transaction of $2,108,370.86. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,526.50. This trade represents a 81.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total value of $11,353,152.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,562,549.57. This represents a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 25.1% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Vertiv by 18.6% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertiv by 0.9% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 13,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC lifted its holdings in Vertiv by 1.3% in the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 10,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $998,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Vertiv by 0.9% in the third quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 14,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. 89.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.