Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Stock Position in Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 513.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,482 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 22,166 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $7,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Vulcan Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. bought a new stake in Vulcan Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Vulcan Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 56.4% in the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 122 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VMC shares. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $365.00 to $355.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vulcan Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $298.00 to $293.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vulcan Materials

In other news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.29, for a total value of $646,545.48. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,716 shares in the company, valued at $2,547,599.64. The trade was a 20.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vulcan Materials Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE VMC opened at $293.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $286.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $290.98. Vulcan Materials Company has a one year low of $252.35 and a one year high of $331.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.59. The company has a market capitalization of $38.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.05.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The construction company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 12.95%. Vulcan Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.73%.

About Vulcan Materials

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.