Vulcan Materials’ (VMC) “Neutral” Rating Reiterated at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $330.00 price target on the construction company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on VMC. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Vulcan Materials from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Vulcan Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $327.00 target price on Vulcan Materials in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.92.

Vulcan Materials Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE VMC opened at $306.06 on Wednesday. Vulcan Materials has a 12-month low of $215.08 and a 12-month high of $313.37. The company has a market cap of $40.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $293.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.60.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The construction company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.12. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 14.19%.The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Vulcan Materials will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vulcan Materials

In other news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.55, for a total transaction of $577,100.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $240,073.60. The trade was a 70.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Thompson S. Baker II sold 7,135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.81, for a total value of $2,146,279.35. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 20,471 shares of company stock valued at $6,054,615 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,207,183 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,293,274,000 after acquiring an additional 311,539 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 99,298 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 414,828 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 95,256 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,491,618 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $906,961,000 after buying an additional 27,531 shares during the period. 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.