Vulcan Materials Company $VMC Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 70.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,561 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 32,496 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $3,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 5.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,625,271 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,345,703,000 after purchasing an additional 414,828 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,293,316 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $397,795,000 after purchasing an additional 3,931 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the third quarter valued at about $1,232,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 67.8% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 14,320 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,405,000 after purchasing an additional 5,787 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 67.3% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 29,081 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,946,000 after purchasing an additional 11,699 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VMC shares. Raymond James Financial set a $325.00 price objective on Vulcan Materials in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective (down from $335.00) on shares of Vulcan Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research raised Vulcan Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.58.

Vulcan Materials Stock Down 0.5%

Vulcan Materials stock opened at $260.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $33.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.09. Vulcan Materials Company has a 52 week low of $252.35 and a 52 week high of $331.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $278.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $290.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.73%.

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.