Northern Trust Corp Sells 8,875 Shares of Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC)

Northern Trust Corp cut its holdings in Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC - Free Report) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,237,643 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 8,875 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.69% of Vulcan Materials worth $575,589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VMC. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the third quarter worth about $811,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 149.4% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627 shares in the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Vulcan Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $514,000. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Vulcan Materials during the 4th quarter worth $15,719,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Vulcan Materials by 284.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,650 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $11,104,000 after buying an additional 33,051 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VMC. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Vulcan Materials from $269.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Vulcan Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $343.00 to $258.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Argus upgraded shares of Vulcan Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $287.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Vulcan Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $295.64.

Vulcan Materials Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE VMC traded up $3.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $267.32. 1,010,739 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 935,390. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 2.02. Vulcan Materials has a 12 month low of $215.08 and a 12 month high of $298.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $239.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.78. The company has a market capitalization of $35.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. This is a boost from Vulcan Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Vulcan Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.61%.

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.