Vulcan Materials Company $VMC Shares Sold by Equitable Trust Co.

Equitable Trust Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 11.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,534 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,822 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $3,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in Vulcan Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $425,938,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials during the fourth quarter worth $383,613,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $273,861,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 717,409 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $204,619,000 after acquiring an additional 393,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 993.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 396,628 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $113,126,000 after purchasing an additional 360,368 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vulcan Materials news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.29, for a total value of $646,545.48. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,547,599.64. The trade was a 20.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on VMC shares. Stephens boosted their target price on Vulcan Materials from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $333.00 price objective on Vulcan Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $325.00 price objective on Vulcan Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup cut 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vulcan Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.79.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

Shares of VMC opened at $288.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.89. Vulcan Materials Company has a 1-year low of $252.35 and a 1-year high of $331.09. The stock has a market cap of $37.42 billion, a PE ratio of 34.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $286.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.00.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The construction company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.27 EPS for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio is 24.73%.

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.