How Is Vulcan Materials’ Stock Performance Compared to Other Materials Stocks?`

Valued at $31.1 billion by market cap, Birmingham, Alabama-based Vulcan Materials Company (VMC) operates as the largest producer of construction aggregates in the U.S. The company primarily focuses on producing and selling crushed stones, sand, gravel, asphalt, and ready-mixed concrete.

Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as “large-cap stocks,” Vulcan fits the bill perfectly. Given the company’s dominance and influence over the construction aggregates and materials market, its valuation above this mark is unsurprising.

Vulcan is currently trading 20.7% below its all-time high of $298.31 touched on Nov. 6, 2024. Meanwhile, VMC stock has dropped 10.7% over the past three months, significantly underperforming the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLB) 1.7% gains during the same time frame.

Vulcan’s performance has remained grim over the longer term as well. VMC stock has plunged 12.2% over the past 52-week period, underperforming XLB’s 4.1% decline during the same time frame.

To confirm the downturn, VMC stock has traded mostly below its 50-day moving average since mid-December 2024 with some fluctuations and consistently below its 200-day moving average since late February.

Vulcan Materials’ stock prices observed a marginal uptick after the release of its mixed Q4 results on Feb. 18. The company’s topline inched up nearly 1.1% year-over-year to approximately $1.9 billion, exceeding the Street’s expectations by 1.4%. Meanwhile, its adjusted EPS surged 48.6% year-over-year to $2.17 which surpassed the consensus estimates by 23.3%. However, the company observed a notable drop in cash flows during FY 2024, its operating cash flows for the year dropped 8.3% year-over-year to $1.4 billion.

Vulcan completed numerous acquisitions in FY 2024 which has led to a massive increase in borrowings and goodwill on the company's balance sheet and a notable drop in share buybacks. Meanwhile, the company incurred $86.6 million in impairment losses during FY 2024 up from $28.3 million in FY 2023, signifying a notable increase in overpayments for acquisition-led growth. Furthermore, Vulcan has observed a slight drop in return on average invested capital to 16.2% in 2024.

However, Vulcan has performed slightly better than its peer Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.’s (MLM) 18.2% decline over the past 52-week period.

Among the 21 analysts covering the VMC stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy.” Its mean price target of $308.37 suggests a 30.4% upside potential from current price levels.