Brokerages Set Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) PT at $325.00

Shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $325.00.

VMC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lowered 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 note on Wednesday, July 8th. Berenberg Bank set a $283.00 price target on Vulcan Materials and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut Vulcan Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $305.00 to $254.00 in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup cut Vulcan Materials from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on Vulcan Materials in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $330.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Activity at Vulcan Materials

In other Vulcan Materials news, Director J. Hill sold 14,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 58,209 shares in the company, valued at $16,075,579.53. This represents a 19.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Clement sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.10, for a total transaction of $570,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,914,731.60. This trade represents a 22.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vulcan Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 30,567.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 68,744,705 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $20,280,375,000 after purchasing an additional 68,520,546 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Vulcan Materials in the second quarter worth about $2,868,444,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Vulcan Materials in the second quarter worth about $688,580,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Vulcan Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $451,119,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vulcan Materials in the fourth quarter worth $383,613,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vulcan Materials Trading Up 0.2%

Vulcan Materials stock opened at $253.24 on Friday. Vulcan Materials has a 12-month low of $246.20 and a 12-month high of $331.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $277.82 and a 200 day moving average of $282.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued 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 currently 24.56%.

About Vulcan Materials

Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) is a major U.S. producer and supplier of construction materials. The company’s primary business is aggregates, including crushed stone, sand and gravel, which are used in roads, bridges, buildings and other infrastructure projects.

Vulcan also produces and distributes asphalt and ready-mixed concrete, as well as calcium products used in construction, industrial and other applications. Its products are sold to public-sector customers, contractors, commercial developers and other businesses involved in construction and infrastructure development.

Founded in 1909 and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, Vulcan Materials has expanded through organic growth and acquisitions to operate production facilities, distribution terminals and related assets across much of the United States.