California Public Employees Retirement System Boosts Stock Position in Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 254,491 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 4,449 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $69,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Vulcan Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. acquired a new position in Vulcan Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Vulcan Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC raised its position in Vulcan Materials by 56.4% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 122 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VMC has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group decreased 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 note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vulcan Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.79.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

NYSE:VMC opened at $288.64 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Vulcan Materials Company has a 52 week low of $252.35 and a 52 week high of $331.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $286.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $290.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.45 billion, a PE ratio of 34.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.05.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The construction company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 13.81%.Vulcan Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio is 24.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vulcan Materials

In other news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,212 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.29, for a total transaction of $646,545.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,547,599.64. This represents a 20.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through 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.