Valhi (NYSE:VHI) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Valhi (NYSE:VHI) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Separately, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Valhi from $11.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Valhi Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VHI traded down $9.84 during trading on Monday, hitting $31.46. The company had a trading volume of 152,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,407. The firm has a market capitalization of $890.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 1.29. Valhi has a fifty-two week low of $11.49 and a fifty-two week high of $41.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 3.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Valhi (NYSE:VHI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The basic materials company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $559.70 million for the quarter. Valhi had a net margin of 4.29% and a return on equity of 7.04%.

Institutional Trading of Valhi

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Valhi by 28.4% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 20,879 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 4,620 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Valhi in the third quarter valued at about $244,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Valhi by 8.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 117,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,012,000 after acquiring an additional 8,750 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Valhi during the third quarter worth about $408,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in Valhi during the third quarter worth about $1,409,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.83% of the company’s stock.

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.