Nicholas Company Inc. Lowers Holdings in Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

Nicholas Company Inc. decreased its stake in Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 262,305 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 13,660 shares during the quarter. Vulcan Materials makes up 1.3% of Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $74,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL boosted its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 3,712 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,059,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 1,014 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 13,331 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,802,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.2% in the third quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,095 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $952,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vulcan Materials

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

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

Shares of Vulcan Materials stock opened at $283.73 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $283.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $292.70. Vulcan Materials Company has a 12 month low of $252.35 and a 12 month high of $331.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.74, a PEG ratio of 2.06 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 (NYSE:VMC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The construction company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.25. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 13.81%.The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vulcan Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VMC. Zacks Research upgraded Vulcan Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Stephens upped their target price on Vulcan Materials from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $333.00 target price on Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Vulcan Materials from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Vulcan Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Eight investment 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $329.62.

Vulcan Materials Profile

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.