4,865 Shares in Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) Acquired by 1248 Management LLC

1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 4,865 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,251,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VMC. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the third quarter worth about $811,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in Vulcan Materials by 149.4% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627 shares in the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $514,000. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,719,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 284.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,650 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,104,000 after buying an additional 33,051 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VMC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $300.00 to $273.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $269.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Argus upgraded shares of Vulcan Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Vulcan Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $293.64.

Vulcan Materials Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:VMC opened at $263.64 on Friday. Vulcan Materials has a 12-month low of $215.08 and a 12-month high of $298.31. The firm has a market cap of $34.87 billion, a PE ratio of 38.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $238.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.68.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.20. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 12.30%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vulcan Materials will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Vulcan Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio 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.