Jones Kertz & Associates Inc. Acquires New Shares in Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

Jones Kertz & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 6,351 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,811,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VMC. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Vulcan Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $425,938,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Vulcan Materials by 48.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,511,427 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $464,945,000 after acquiring an additional 491,957 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vulcan Materials by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,625,271 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,345,703,000 after buying an additional 414,828 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Vulcan Materials by 993.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 396,628 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $113,126,000 after buying an additional 360,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Vulcan Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $98,911,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 target price (down from $335.00) on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $316.00 to $296.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. B. Riley Financial began coverage on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $345.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vulcan Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Vulcan Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vulcan Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.08.

Vulcan Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:VMC opened at $294.74 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $38.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.10. Vulcan Materials Company has a fifty-two week low of $231.76 and a fifty-two week high of $331.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $288.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $293.42.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 13.56%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.17 EPS. Analysts expect that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.28 EPS for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Vulcan Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio is currently 25.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vulcan Materials 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 transaction of $345,329.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.