Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from fourteen analysts, with an average target price of $308.36.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.45 EPS, missing the consensus estimate of $2.65, along with revenues of $2.10 billion, falling short of expectations of $2.23 billion.
• Vulcan Materials plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.49 per share on September 3rd, reflecting a 0.7% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 27.37%.

Shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Buy" by the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $308.3636.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $286.00 to $279.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $303.00 to $285.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Vulcan Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $280.00 to $318.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th.

Institutional Trading of Vulcan Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,895,644 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,406,722,000 after buying an additional 195,982 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 12.3% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,824,987 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,040,914,000 after buying an additional 857,210 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $1,518,291,000 after buying an additional 445,691 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,558,791 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,449,844,000 after buying an additional 95,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,491,618 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $906,961,000 after buying an additional 27,531 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vulcan Materials Stock Performance

VMC stock traded up $1.20 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $292.36. The stock had a trading volume of 1,143,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,226. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.86. Vulcan Materials has a 52 week low of $215.08 and a 52 week high of $298.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $259.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The construction company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.65 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 12.52%.The business's revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vulcan Materials will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Vulcan Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.37%.

Vulcan Materials Company 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.