Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

by · The Markets Daily

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMCFree Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on VMC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $317.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Vulcan Materials from $320.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $330.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.64.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Vulcan Materials

Vulcan Materials Stock Performance

VMC stock opened at $310.60 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $302.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $296.99. Vulcan Materials has a 12 month low of $215.08 and a 12 month high of $331.09. The company has a market capitalization of $40.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMCGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.41). The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 13.56%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vulcan Materials will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This is a positive change from Vulcan Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio is presently 24.14%.

Insider Transactions at Vulcan Materials

In related news, SVP Denson N. Franklin III sold 665 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $196,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,780. This trade represents a 7.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Thompson S. Baker II sold 7,135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.81, for a total value of $2,146,279.35. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vulcan Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Vulcan Materials by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,207,183 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,293,274,000 after buying an additional 311,539 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,924,285 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,437,669,000 after acquiring an additional 99,298 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Vulcan Materials by 5.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,625,271 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,345,703,000 after acquiring an additional 414,828 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Vulcan Materials by 1.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,558,791 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,449,844,000 after purchasing an additional 95,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $1,016,168,000 after purchasing an additional 32,012 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Vulcan Materials

(Get Free Report)

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.

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