Analysts Set Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) PT at $327.93

Shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $327.9286.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vulcan Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. UBS Group dropped 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. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Vulcan Materials from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th.

Vulcan Materials Stock Up 1.8%

VMC stock opened at $276.49 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $35.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $289.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $287.91. Vulcan Materials has a 1-year low of $252.35 and a 1-year high of $331.09.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 13.75%.The business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. Analysts expect that Vulcan Materials will post 9.29 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 24.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vulcan Materials news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,212 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 8,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,547,599.64. This trade represents a 20.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Vulcan Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,868,444,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,576,172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,016,168,000 after purchasing an additional 32,012 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Vulcan Materials during the second quarter worth about $688,580,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Vulcan Materials by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,727,232 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $492,642,000 after purchasing an additional 126,523 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Vulcan Materials during the second quarter worth about $451,119,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

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.