Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $3.64 Million Investment in Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 12,330 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,637,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VMC. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Vulcan Materials during the second quarter worth $17,308,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $668,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in Vulcan Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,396,000. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Vulcan Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials in the second quarter valued at about $64,444,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VMC shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $355.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $350.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vulcan Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.64.

Vulcan Materials Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of VMC stock opened at $275.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $286.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $286.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Vulcan Materials Company has a 1-year low of $252.35 and a 1-year high of $331.09. The firm has a market cap of $35.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.06.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.13. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 13.75% and a return on equity of 13.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. Vulcan Materials’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.29 EPS for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Vulcan Materials

In other news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.10, for a total transaction of $570,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,716 shares in the company, valued at $1,914,731.60. This represents a 22.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Vulcan Materials

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.