Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) Hits New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $240.38 and last traded at $240.5940, with a volume of 497565 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $246.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VMC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Vulcan Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $305.00 to $254.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Vulcan Materials from $293.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Vulcan Materials from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vulcan Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $325.00.

Vulcan Materials Stock Up 1.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $266.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.91. The stock has a market cap of $31.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.97, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.05.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 13.75%.The business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Hill sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $3,866,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 58,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,075,579.53. The trade was a 19.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.10, for a total transaction of $570,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,914,731.60. This trade represents a 22.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vulcan Materials

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VMC. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,868,444,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Vulcan Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $688,580,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Vulcan Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $451,119,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Vulcan Materials by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,346,422 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $366,592,000 after acquiring an additional 24,187 shares during the period. Finally, Stockbridge Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Vulcan Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $314,470,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Vulcan Materials

Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) is a major producer and supplier of construction materials in the United States. The company primarily produces and distributes construction aggregates, including crushed stone, sand and gravel, which are used in infrastructure, commercial, residential and industrial projects.

In addition to aggregates, Vulcan produces asphalt mix and ready-mixed concrete and provides related construction-material services. Its products support highways, bridges, airports, buildings and other essential infrastructure.