Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) Hits New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $252.00 and last traded at $253.6720, with a volume of 3942 shares. The stock had previously closed at $258.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VMC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $293.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $350.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Vulcan Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 29th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $283.00 price objective on Vulcan Materials and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vulcan Materials presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $325.00.

Vulcan Materials Trading Down 2.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $280.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $283.23. The company has a market capitalization of $32.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.87, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.05.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.13. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 13.75% and a return on equity of 13.05%. The business had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio is 24.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Hill sold 14,000 shares of Vulcan Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $3,866,380.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 58,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,075,579.53. This trade represents a 19.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.10, for a total value of $570,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,914,731.60. The trade was a 22.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,212 shares of company stock valued at $5,083,125. 0.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vulcan Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 30,567.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 68,744,705 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $20,280,375,000 after purchasing an additional 68,520,546 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,868,444,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,576,172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,016,168,000 after buying an additional 32,012 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Vulcan Materials in the second quarter worth $688,580,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,727,232 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $492,642,000 after purchasing an additional 126,523 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

About Vulcan Materials

Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE: VMC) is a U.S.-based producer of construction materials that supplies the building and infrastructure markets. The company’s primary products include construction aggregates such as crushed stone, sand and gravel, as well as asphalt mixes and ready-mixed concrete. These materials are used in a wide range of projects including highways, commercial and residential construction, and public infrastructure.

Vulcan operates an integrated network of quarries, asphalt plants and concrete facilities to produce and deliver materials to contractors, municipalities and private developers.