Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC – Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on VMC. Atlantic Securities downgraded shares of Vulcan Materials from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and raised their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Vulcan Materials from $194.00 to $211.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a neutral rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Vulcan Materials from $186.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Vulcan Materials from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vulcan Materials currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $204.25.

Vulcan Materials Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of VMC opened at $161.02 on Thursday. Vulcan Materials has a twelve month low of $137.54 and a twelve month high of $197.76. The company has a market cap of $21.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.06.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The construction company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.18). Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Vulcan Materials will post 5.93 EPS for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. This is a boost from Vulcan Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 3rd. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.91%.

Institutional Trading of Vulcan Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 194 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. now owns 2,849 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 1,434 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,297 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 2,052 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 90.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Vulcan Materials

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Vulcan Materials Co engages in the provision of basic materials and supply for the infrastructure and construction industries. It operates through the following business segments: Aggregates, Asphalt, Concrete, and Calcium. The Aggregates segment produces and sells asphalt mix and ready-mixed concrete primarily in its mid-Atlantic, Georgia, Southwestern, Tennessee, and Western markets.