Vulcan Materials Company $VMC Shares Purchased by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,070 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,653 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $11,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,207,183 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,293,274,000 after purchasing an additional 311,539 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,924,285 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,437,669,000 after purchasing an additional 99,298 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,625,271 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,345,703,000 after purchasing an additional 414,828 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,318,474 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $713,209,000 after purchasing an additional 9,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,889,926 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $570,077,000 after purchasing an additional 17,274 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

VMC opened at $292.00 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $288.77 and a 200-day moving average of $293.64. The company has a market capitalization of $38.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.96, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Vulcan Materials Company has a 1-year low of $231.76 and a 1-year high of $331.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.69.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.17 EPS. Vulcan Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Vulcan Materials Company will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Vulcan Materials

In related news, Director Melissa H. Anderson sold 1,137 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.72, for a total transaction of $345,329.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VMC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley Financial initiated coverage on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $322.00 to $321.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $315.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vulcan Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vulcan Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.