Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Grows Position in Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 413.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 211,008 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 169,949 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $55,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VMC. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 1.3% during the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 14,288 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,727,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $265,000. Claret Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $233,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 296,493 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $77,331,000 after buying an additional 22,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 6.9% in the second quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 6,081 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,586,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on VMC shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on Vulcan Materials from $356.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Vulcan Materials from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of Vulcan Materials from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Vulcan Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.58.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

VMC opened at $293.81 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $294.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $282.79. Vulcan Materials Company has a twelve month low of $215.08 and a twelve month high of $311.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $38.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.89, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The construction company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.12. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. Vulcan Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Vulcan Materials Company will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio is presently 23.28%.

Insider Transactions at Vulcan Materials

In other news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.55, for a total transaction of $577,100.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 832 shares in the company, valued at $240,073.60. This represents a 70.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Thompson S. Baker II sold 5,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.26, for a total transaction of $1,700,368.68. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 13,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,920,556 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Vulcan Materials Company Profile

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.