Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) Stock Holdings Decreased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) by 22.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 656,082 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 190,058 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.50% of Vulcan Materials worth $168,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VMC. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Vulcan Materials by 19.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,320,570 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,332,431,000 after purchasing an additional 884,580 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Vulcan Materials by 30.2% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 4,590 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in Vulcan Materials by 65.8% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 3,224 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Vulcan Materials by 5.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 38,777 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Vulcan Materials by 29.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 472,194 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $118,251,000 after purchasing an additional 106,187 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $269.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $298.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.00.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

Shares of Vulcan Materials stock opened at $239.43 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $259.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Vulcan Materials has a 1-year low of $215.08 and a 1-year high of $298.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.95, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.80.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.41. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vulcan Materials will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a boost from Vulcan Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.61%.

About Vulcan Materials

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.