DA Davidson Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC)

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at DA Davidson in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $330.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock. DA Davidson’s price target suggests a potential upside of 6.08% from the stock’s previous close.

VMC has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Vulcan Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Vulcan Materials from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $279.00 to $278.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.83.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

Shares of VMC stock opened at $311.09 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Vulcan Materials has a 12-month low of $215.08 and a 12-month high of $313.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $292.42 and a 200-day moving average of $289.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.06.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The construction company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.12. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 14.19%.The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vulcan Materials will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.55, for a total transaction of $577,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,073.60. This represents a 70.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Denson N. Franklin III sold 665 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $196,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,780. This represents a 7.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 20,471 shares of company stock worth $6,054,615 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vulcan Materials

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VMC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,207,183 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,293,274,000 after buying an additional 311,539 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,924,285 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,437,669,000 after purchasing an additional 99,298 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,625,271 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,345,703,000 after purchasing an additional 414,828 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,558,791 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,449,844,000 after purchasing an additional 95,256 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Vulcan Materials by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,491,618 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $906,961,000 after purchasing an additional 27,531 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Vulcan Materials Company Profile

Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE: VMC) is a U.S.-based producer of construction materials that supplies the building and infrastructure markets. The company’s primary products include construction aggregates such as crushed stone, sand and gravel, as well as asphalt mixes and ready-mixed concrete. These materials are used in a wide range of projects including highways, commercial and residential construction, and public infrastructure.

Vulcan operates an integrated network of quarries, asphalt plants and concrete facilities to produce and deliver materials to contractors, municipalities and private developers.