Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Reduces Stock Position in Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC - Free Report) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,450 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 2,377 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $7,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VMC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,352,507 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,206,355,000 after acquiring an additional 90,157 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,062,201 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,559,380,000 after purchasing an additional 741,631 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,348,418 shares of the construction company's stock worth $859,171,000 after purchasing an additional 36,833 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $380,369,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Vulcan Materials by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,163,900 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $299,390,000 after buying an additional 96,724 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

Shares of Vulcan Materials stock traded up $1.72 on Thursday, hitting $264.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 548,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 934,151. Vulcan Materials has a 1 year low of $215.08 and a 1 year high of $298.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $238.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $259.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 1.83. The company has a market capitalization of $34.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.80.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.20. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 12.30%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. Vulcan Materials's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vulcan Materials will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change from Vulcan Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Vulcan Materials's payout ratio is 28.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VMC shares. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group cut Vulcan Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $343.00 to $258.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research raised Vulcan Materials from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $269.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $293.64.

Vulcan Materials Company Profile

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.