Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys New Stake in Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 17,909 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,283,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VMC. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials during the second quarter worth $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 71.7% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 103 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new position in Vulcan Materials during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,212 shares of Vulcan Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 8,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,547,599.64. The trade was a 20.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vulcan Materials Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:VMC opened at $275.48 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.52, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Vulcan Materials Company has a 12 month low of $252.35 and a 12 month high of $331.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $287.48.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 13.75%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be 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 is Thursday, August 13th. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio is presently 24.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Vulcan Materials from $350.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $333.00 price target on Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stephens upped their price objective 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. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $283.00 price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.93.

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.