Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,085,382 shares, a growth of 24.7% from the March 15th total of 4,077,107 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,486,065 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Currently, 3.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

Shares of VMC stock traded down $5.43 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $285.82. The stock had a trading volume of 524,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,238,090. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $289.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Vulcan Materials has a one year low of $231.76 and a one year high of $331.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.20, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.10.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.41). Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 13.56%.The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Vulcan Materials will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This is an increase from Vulcan Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio is presently 25.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Melissa H. Anderson sold 1,137 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.72, for a total value of $345,329.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vulcan Materials

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VMC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,207,183 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,293,274,000 after buying an additional 311,539 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 1.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,924,285 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,437,669,000 after buying an additional 99,298 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 5.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,625,271 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,345,703,000 after buying an additional 414,828 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,576,172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,016,168,000 after buying an additional 32,012 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 0.4% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,318,474 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $713,209,000 after buying an additional 9,030 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VMC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $330.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Vulcan Materials from $320.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Zacks Research upgraded Vulcan Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $320.00 to $296.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.08.

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.