UPDATE: Stifel Nicolaus Reiterates Buy, Raises PT to $120 on Valmont Industries

Stifel Nicolaus maintains its Buy rating on Valmont Industries

and raises its price target to $120 from $119 per share as the company adds capacity to meet transmission demand. Stifel Nicolaus says, "We estimate that demand for transmission structures could exceed industry capacity by $200 million or more in 2012. With competitor Thomas & Betts expanding capacity about $25-$30 million, this presents Valmont with the opportunity to capture substantial market share. By converting idle traffic and lighting production lines to utility monopoles, the impact on the profitability of production plants would be substantial. adding a potential $0.50-$0.90 to our EPS forecast. We are increasing our 4Q11 EPS estimate to $1.64 from $1.53 and raising our 2012 EPS estimate to $7.08 from $7.00." VMI closed at $90.52 per share on Wednesday.