Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Up 2.5% – Here’s Why

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)’s stock price rose 2.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $137.30 and last traded at $135.94. Approximately 4,912,411 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 4,839,224 shares. The stock had previously closed at $132.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on VRT. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. 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. Barclays began coverage on Vertiv in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $142.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price target on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Vertiv in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertiv currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.75.

Vertiv Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $126.07 and its 200-day moving average is $103.68. The firm has a market cap of $51.02 billion, a PE ratio of 90.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 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.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. Vertiv had a return on equity of 55.33% and a net margin of 7.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. The business’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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertiv

In related news, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.46, for a total transaction of $4,373,094.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,751,114.08. The trade was a 61.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total transaction of $11,353,152.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,562,549.57. The trade was a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682 in the last 90 days. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Vertiv in the fourth quarter worth $4,219,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 15.4% in the 2nd 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. raised its position in Vertiv by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 127,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,656,000 after purchasing an additional 8,579 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertiv in the third quarter worth $8,403,000. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd boosted its position in Vertiv by 112.5% during the third quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 8,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by 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.