Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Acquires 143 Shares of Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,327 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 90,157 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Vulcan Materials by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,062,201 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,559,380,000 after acquiring an additional 741,631 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,281,102 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,322,546,000 after acquiring an additional 65,163 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,348,418 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $859,171,000 after acquiring an additional 36,833 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $380,369,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on VMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Vulcan Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Vulcan Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James dropped their price target on Vulcan Materials from $298.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.58.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

Shares of Vulcan Materials stock opened at $230.98 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $250.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.40. Vulcan Materials has a twelve month low of $215.08 and a twelve month high of $298.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 12.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Vulcan Materials will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued 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 dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 28.61%.

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.