Ballentine Partners LLC Sells 119 Shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC)

Ballentine Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 11.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 896 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $209,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Vulcan Materials by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,352,507 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,206,355,000 after purchasing an additional 90,157 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 7.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,507,892 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,518,291,000 after purchasing an additional 445,691 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Vulcan Materials by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,348,418 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $859,171,000 after acquiring an additional 36,833 shares in the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 1,746,482 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $449,248,000 after purchasing an additional 177,918 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $380,369,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VMC. UBS Group upgraded Vulcan Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $280.00 to $318.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Vulcan Materials from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Stephens set a $315.00 price objective on Vulcan Materials and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Vulcan Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a report on Monday, March 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $302.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vulcan Materials

In other news, SVP David P. Clement sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $405,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,832 shares in the company, valued at $764,640. This trade represents a 34.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vulcan Materials Trading Up 1.0%

VMC opened at $263.24 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $265.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $256.47. Vulcan Materials Company has a 12 month low of $215.08 and a 12 month high of $298.31. The firm has a market cap of $34.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.20. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vulcan Materials Company will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vulcan Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio is 27.80%.

Vulcan Materials Profile

Vulcan Materials Company, together with its subsidiaries, produces and supplies construction aggregates primarily in the United States. It operates through four segments: Aggregates, Asphalt, Concrete, and Calcium. The company provides crushed stones, sand and gravel, sand, and other aggregates; and related products and services that are applied in construction and maintenance of highways, streets, and other public works, as well as in the construction of housing and commercial, industrial, and other nonresidential facilities.