Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Buys 16,114 Shares of Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,040,730 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,114 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.79% of Vulcan Materials worth $296,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,207,183 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,293,274,000 after buying an additional 311,539 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,924,285 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,437,669,000 after buying an additional 99,298 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,576,172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,016,168,000 after buying an additional 32,012 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.4% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,318,474 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $713,209,000 after buying an additional 9,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the third quarter valued at about $425,938,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vulcan Materials Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:VMC opened at $281.49 on Friday. Vulcan Materials Company has a fifty-two week low of $252.35 and a fifty-two week high of $331.09. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $36.53 billion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $281.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.24.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 13.81%.The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. Vulcan Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vulcan Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio is 24.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Vulcan Materials from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Berenberg Bank set a $283.00 price target on Vulcan Materials and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Vulcan Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $330.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $325.00 price objective on Vulcan Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $326.92.

Vulcan Materials Company Profile

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.