Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Trims Stock Position in Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. cut its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC - Free Report) by 16.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,678 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 1,323 shares during the quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.'s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $1,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VMC. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $497,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Vulcan Materials by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,599 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Vulcan Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,574 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,691,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Vulcan Materials by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 32,017 shares of the construction company's stock worth $8,236,000 after buying an additional 1,953 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP David P. Clement sold 1,500 shares of Vulcan Materials stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $405,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,832 shares in the company, valued at $764,640. The trade was a 34.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on VMC shares. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Vulcan Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Argus upgraded Vulcan Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $273.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $302.91.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

VMC stock traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $266.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 421,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 982,924. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company's 50 day moving average is $264.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.19. Vulcan Materials Company has a fifty-two week low of $215.08 and a fifty-two week high of $298.31. The stock has a market cap of $35.17 billion, a PE ratio of 37.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.82.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.20. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.50%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Vulcan Materials Company will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. Vulcan Materials's payout ratio is currently 27.80%.

Vulcan Materials 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.