Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,344,971 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $383,613,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.02% of Vulcan Materials as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VMC. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $425,938,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of 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. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $98,911,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 71.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 566,909 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $147,861,000 after buying an additional 236,058 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VMC opened at $281.52 on Tuesday. Vulcan Materials Company has a one year low of $252.35 and a one year high of $331.09. The firm has a market cap of $36.53 billion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $280.29 and a 200 day moving average of $290.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.59.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The construction company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.25. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vulcan Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VMC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vulcan Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vulcan Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $325.00 target price on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold 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 $330.58.

Vulcan Materials 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.