Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $350.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $355.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Vulcan Materials from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Berenberg Bank set a $283.00 price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vulcan Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $328.64.

Vulcan Materials Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE VMC opened at $275.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $35.65 billion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $286.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $286.28. Vulcan Materials has a 52 week low of $252.35 and a 52 week high of $331.09.

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

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,000 shares of Vulcan Materials stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vulcan Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VMC. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 333,997 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $98,532,000 after acquiring an additional 3,756 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $455,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position 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 worth $20,280,375,000 after acquiring an additional 68,520,546 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Vulcan Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $451,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Vulcan Materials by 2.6% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,877 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.