Vulcan Materials Company $VMC Shares Bought by Saudi Central Bank

Saudi Central Bank raised its holdings in Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 87.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,132 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,255 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $2,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $497,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vulcan Materials by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,359 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Vulcan Materials by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,195 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 28.5% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,321 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $775,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 31.5% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 334 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vulcan Materials

In other news, SVP David Clement sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.10, for a total value of $570,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,716 shares in the company, valued at $1,914,731.60. The trade was a 22.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director J. Hill sold 14,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $3,866,380.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 58,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,075,579.53. The trade was a 19.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,212 shares of company stock worth $5,083,125. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VMC has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Vulcan Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 29th. Berenberg Bank set a $283.00 price target on Vulcan Materials and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Vulcan Materials from $293.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $328.64.

Vulcan Materials Trading Up 0.1%

VMC stock opened at $262.93 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $281.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $283.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Vulcan Materials Company has a 52-week low of $252.35 and a 52-week high of $331.09. The firm has a market cap of $34.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.04, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Vulcan Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.56%.

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.