Fox Advisors Begins Coverage on Vertiv (NYSE:VRT)

Fox Advisors began coverage on shares of Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on VRT. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Vertiv in a 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 stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Vertiv from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Vertiv in a report on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.92.

Vertiv Price Performance

Shares of VRT stock opened at $129.35 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $123.90 and its 200 day moving average is $101.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $48.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.23, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63. Vertiv has a twelve month low of $47.45 and a twelve month high of $145.67.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Vertiv will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.12%. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total value of $11,353,152.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,562,549.57. This trade represents a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.38, for a total transaction of $2,108,370.86. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,526.50. This represents a 81.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682. Insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VRT. First Hawaiian Bank raised its stake in shares of Vertiv by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 3,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 1,244 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its holdings in Vertiv by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in Vertiv by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 32,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,714,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Vertiv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,219,000. Finally, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertiv by 160.2% in the fourth quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 41,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,721,000 after purchasing an additional 25,585 shares during the period. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.