Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Buys Shares of 21,264 Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 21,264 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,460,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,868,444,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Vulcan Materials by 0.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Vulcan Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $688,580,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Vulcan Materials by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,727,232 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $492,642,000 after purchasing an additional 126,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Vulcan Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $451,119,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vulcan Materials news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.10, for a total transaction of $570,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,914,731.60. This trade represents a 22.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Vulcan Materials Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of VMC opened at $275.11 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $286.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $286.28. Vulcan Materials Company has a 12 month low of $252.35 and a 12 month high of $331.09. The company has a market capitalization of $35.65 billion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 1.98 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.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.13. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 13.75%.The company had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.29 EPS for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on VMC shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $355.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank set a $283.00 price target on Vulcan Materials and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $293.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Vulcan Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vulcan Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $328.64.

Vulcan Materials 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.