Horizon Investments LLC Purchases 6,177 Shares of Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

Key Points

• Horizon Investments LLC boosted its stake in Vulcan Materials by 56.7%, adding 6,177 shares to hold 17,068 shares worth $4.87 million, amid high institutional ownership (90.39%) and additional buying from major funds like Vanguard, JPMorgan and Principal.
• Vulcan beat expectations with $1.35 EPS vs. $1.10 estimate and $1.76B revenue (up 7.4% YoY), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.52 ($2.08 annualized).
• Analyst sentiment is mildly positive with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $329.62, while individual targets and ratings vary from holds to buys.

Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC - Free Report) by 56.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,068 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,177 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC's holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $4,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Vulcan Materials by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,207,183 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,293,274,000 after acquiring an additional 311,539 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Vulcan Materials by 1.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,924,285 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,437,669,000 after acquiring an additional 99,298 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 5.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 0.4% during the third 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 acquired a new stake in Vulcan Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $425,938,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VMC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. B. Riley Financial initiated coverage on Vulcan Materials in a report on Thursday, January 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $345.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $322.00 to $321.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $330.00 to $320.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $329.62.

Vulcan Materials Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of VMC opened at $297.00 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.32, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.89. Vulcan Materials Company has a one year low of $252.35 and a one year high of $331.09. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $284.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.83.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This is an increase from Vulcan Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Vulcan Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.73%.

Insider Activity at Vulcan Materials

In other news, Director Melissa H. Anderson sold 1,137 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.72, for a total value of $345,329.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.