Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,950 Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,950 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $502,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in Vulcan Materials by 149.4% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,416,000 after buying an additional 5,627 shares in the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $514,000. Heritage Family Offices LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $994,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials during the fourth quarter worth $249,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,910 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Vulcan Materials

In other Vulcan Materials news, SVP David P. Clement sold 1,500 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,832 shares in the company, valued at $764,640. This 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 at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on VMC. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $287.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vulcan Materials from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group raised Vulcan Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $280.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Vulcan Materials from $269.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a report on Monday, March 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vulcan Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $302.91.

Vulcan Materials Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of VMC traded up $0.17 on Monday, hitting $275.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 750,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 944,560. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $245.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $260.41. Vulcan Materials has a fifty-two week low of $215.08 and a fifty-two week high of $298.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.84.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.20. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 12.30%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. Vulcan Materials's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vulcan Materials will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Vulcan Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.80%.

About Vulcan Materials

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.