California State Teachers Retirement System Raises Holdings in Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 30,567.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 68,744,705 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 68,520,546 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.53% of Vulcan Materials worth $20,280,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Vulcan Materials by 71.7% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 103 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Vulcan Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Vulcan Materials during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VMC shares. Berenberg Bank set a $283.00 price target on shares of Vulcan Materials and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on 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. Citigroup cut their target price on Vulcan Materials from $355.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $328.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Hill sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was 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 directly 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,914,731.60. This trade represents a 22.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,212 shares of company stock worth $5,083,125. 0.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

Vulcan Materials stock opened at $262.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $34.07 billion, a PE ratio of 31.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.05. Vulcan Materials Company has a 52-week low of $252.35 and a 52-week high of $331.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $281.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $283.52.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last issued its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 13.75% and a return on equity of 13.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vulcan Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio is presently 24.56%.

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.