Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Acquires 3,642 Shares of Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,086 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,642 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Vulcan Materials were worth $4,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Vulcan Materials in the second quarter valued at $308,908,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Vulcan Materials by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,824,987 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,040,914,000 after buying an additional 857,210 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Vulcan Materials by 598.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 719,924 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $187,771,000 after buying an additional 616,850 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 48.3% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,511,427 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $464,945,000 after buying an additional 491,957 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vulcan Materials by 71.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 566,909 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $147,861,000 after acquiring an additional 236,058 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VMC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $327.00 price target on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Vulcan Materials from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vulcan Materials

In other news, President Thompson S. Baker II sold 7,135 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.81, for a total transaction of $2,146,279.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Denson N. Franklin III sold 665 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $196,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,780. This represents a 7.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,471 shares of company stock valued at $6,054,615. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Vulcan Materials Price Performance

Vulcan Materials stock opened at $311.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.02, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.06. Vulcan Materials Company has a 52-week low of $215.08 and a 52-week high of $311.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $291.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.19.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The construction company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 13.47%. Vulcan Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Vulcan Materials Company will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

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.