Deutsche Bank AG Cuts Stock Holdings in Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC)

Deutsche Bank AG cut its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC - Free Report) by 22.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 474,954 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 134,574 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.36% of Vulcan Materials worth $122,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Vulcan Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Vulcan Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in Vulcan Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Vulcan Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Vulcan Materials by 138.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 186 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on VMC. Argus raised shares of Vulcan Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $273.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group cut shares of Vulcan Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $343.00 to $258.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Vulcan Materials from $287.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Vulcan Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $297.45.

Vulcan Materials Stock Performance

VMC traded down $2.03 on Wednesday, hitting $266.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,065,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 944,745. Vulcan Materials has a 12 month low of $215.08 and a 12 month high of $298.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $35.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.84. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $242.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.37.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. Analysts forecast that Vulcan Materials will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Vulcan Materials's payout ratio is presently 27.80%.

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.