Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) Stock Holdings Lifted by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,274 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $1,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,062,201 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,559,380,000 after buying an additional 741,631 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Vulcan Materials by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,281,102 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,322,546,000 after acquiring an additional 65,163 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,660,931 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $916,807,000 after purchasing an additional 78,271 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,311,585 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $826,644,000 after purchasing an additional 33,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stockbridge Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 1,568,564 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $392,815,000 after purchasing an additional 137,365 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VMC. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Vulcan Materials from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $298.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised Vulcan Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $349.00 price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vulcan Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.55.

Vulcan Materials Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of VMC stock opened at $245.34 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.84. Vulcan Materials has a 1 year low of $225.36 and a 1 year high of $298.31. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $264.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $261.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 12.83%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vulcan Materials will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This is a boost from Vulcan Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Vulcan Materials’s dividend 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.