Citigroup Cuts Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) Price Target to $350.00

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) had its target price decreased by Citigroup from $355.00 to $350.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on VMC. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Vulcan Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $333.00 price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Vulcan Materials from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Vulcan Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.93.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

Shares of VMC stock opened at $268.98 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.87. The company has a market cap of $34.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Vulcan Materials has a twelve month low of $252.35 and a twelve month high of $331.09.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vulcan Materials will post 9.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vulcan Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,212 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.29, for a total transaction of $646,545.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,716 shares in the company, valued at $2,547,599.64. This trade represents a 20.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vulcan Materials

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

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.