Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 685 Shares of Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC)

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 44,447 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 685 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $11,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VMC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,352,507 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,206,355,000 after acquiring an additional 90,157 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 13.9% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,348,418 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $859,171,000 after acquiring an additional 36,833 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vulcan Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $380,369,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 877,701 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $225,771,000 after acquiring an additional 13,227 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on VMC. UBS Group downgraded shares of Vulcan Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $343.00 to $258.00 in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Vulcan Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $298.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.00.

Vulcan Materials Stock Performance

Shares of VMC stock opened at $239.43 on Thursday. 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 $31.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $245.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $259.77. Vulcan Materials has a 52 week low of $215.08 and a 52 week high of $298.31.

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

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a boost from Vulcan Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.61%.

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.