Valhi (NYSE:VHI) Sets New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Valhi, Inc. (NYSE:VHI)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $11.00 to $20.00. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Valhi traded as high as $34.33 and last traded at $34.33, with a volume of 136 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.14.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Valhi from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valhi

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Valhi stock. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valhi, Inc. (NYSE:VHI) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,750 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.41% of Valhi worth $2,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 3.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valhi Trading Down 1.7 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.76. The company has a current ratio of 3.49, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $953.31 million, a P/E ratio of 1,685.00 and a beta of 1.28.

Valhi (NYSE:VHI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The basic materials company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.41. Valhi had a net margin of 1.27% and a return on equity of 2.02%. The firm had revenue of $559.70 million for the quarter.

Valhi Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Valhi’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,600.00%.

Valhi Company Profile

Valhi, Inc engages in the chemicals, component products, and real estate management and development businesses in Europe, North America, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company's Chemicals segment produces and markets titanium dioxide pigments (TiO2), which are white inorganic pigments used in various applications by paint, plastics, decorative laminate, and paper manufacturers.