Weitz Investment Management Inc. Sells 2,500 Shares of Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

Weitz Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 210,200 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the quarter. Vulcan Materials makes up 3.6% of Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $59,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 311,539 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,924,285 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,437,669,000 after purchasing an additional 99,298 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,576,172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,016,168,000 after purchasing an additional 32,012 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,318,474 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $713,209,000 after purchasing an additional 9,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $425,938,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VMC shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Vulcan Materials from $320.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $330.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.92.

Vulcan Materials Trading Up 2.8%

NYSE VMC opened at $280.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $36.38 billion, a PE ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $282.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.05. Vulcan Materials Company has a 52 week low of $252.35 and a 52 week high of $331.09.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 12.95%. Vulcan Materials’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

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