London Co. of Virginia Cuts Holdings in Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

London Co. of Virginia reduced its position in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 9.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 584,971 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 61,595 shares during the quarter. London Co. of Virginia owned 0.45% of Vulcan Materials worth $159,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 12,334 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,518,000 after buying an additional 4,331 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,318,000. North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,293,000. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,821,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in shares of Vulcan Materials by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 254,044 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $72,459,000 after acquiring an additional 17,488 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Vulcan Materials

In other Vulcan Materials news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,212 shares of Vulcan Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were 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 directly owned 8,716 shares in the company, valued at $2,547,599.64. This trade represents a 20.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer started coverage on Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $350.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $365.00 to $355.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vulcan Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.79.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

Shares of VMC stock opened at $280.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.89. The company has a market capitalization of $36.36 billion, a PE ratio of 33.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $286.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.59. Vulcan Materials Company has a 12 month low of $252.35 and a 12 month high of $331.09.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The construction company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. Analysts predict that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.73%.

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.