Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) Short Interest Down 13.4% in February

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,870,000 shares, a drop of 13.4% from the January 31st total of 2,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 740,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Vulcan Materials

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on VMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $349.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $287.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $303.08.

Vulcan Materials Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE VMC opened at $240.49 on Thursday. Vulcan Materials has a 1 year low of $225.36 and a 1 year high of $298.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $262.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $261.57. The firm has a market cap of $31.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.41. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vulcan Materials will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from Vulcan Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.61%.

About Vulcan Materials

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.