Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) Receives $304.27 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $304.2727.

VMC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus upgraded Vulcan Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Vulcan Materials from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Vulcan Materials from $286.00 to $279.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Vulcan Materials from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $287.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vulcan Materials

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VMC. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $497,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 969 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 264,276 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $67,980,000 after purchasing an additional 9,709 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 44,447 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,433,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,409 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,405,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

NYSE VMC opened at $295.92 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.10 billion, a PE ratio of 41.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $268.64 and its 200 day moving average is $258.37. Vulcan Materials has a fifty-two week low of $215.08 and a fifty-two week high of $298.31.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The construction company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.65 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 12.52% and a return on equity of 12.81%. Vulcan Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.35 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Vulcan Materials will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio is 27.37%.

Vulcan Materials Company Profile

Vulcan Materials Company, together with its subsidiaries, produces and supplies construction aggregates primarily in the United States. It operates through four segments: Aggregates, Asphalt, Concrete, and Calcium. The company provides crushed stones, sand and gravel, sand, and other aggregates; and related products and services that are applied in construction and maintenance of highways, streets, and other public works, as well as in the construction of housing and commercial, industrial, and other nonresidential facilities.