Vulcan Materials Company $VMC Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,642,386 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 594,920 shares during the period. Vulcan Materials accounts for about 1.0% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Vulcan Materials worth $1,808,737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VMC. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in Vulcan Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Vulcan Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 56.4% in the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 122 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vulcan Materials

In other Vulcan Materials news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.29, for a total transaction of $646,545.48. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,716 shares in the company, valued at $2,547,599.64. This represents a 20.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VMC. Berenberg Bank set a $283.00 price target on shares of Vulcan Materials and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $365.00 to $355.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vulcan Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vulcan Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.79.

Vulcan Materials Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:VMC opened at $292.64 on Tuesday. Vulcan Materials Company has a 52 week low of $252.35 and a 52 week high of $331.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $286.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The construction company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 13.81%.The company’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.27 EPS for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio is currently 24.73%.

Vulcan Materials Company Profile

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.