4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Vulcan Materials

by Brian D. Pacampara - June 24, 2009 - 0 comments

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 135,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, cement, asphalt, and gravel supplier Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

<p>Based on the aggregated intelligence of 135,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, cement, asphalt, and gravel supplier <strong>Vulcan Materials</strong> <span class=

(NYSE: VMC) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

" >

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Vulcan's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Vulcan facts

Headquarters (founded)	Birmingham, Ala. (1909)
Market Cap	$4.79 billion
Industry	Construction Materials
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$3.43 billion
Management	Chairman/CEO Donald James (since 1997) CFO Daniel Sansone (since 2005)
Return on Equity (average, last three years)	11.8%
Competitors	Cemex (NYSE: CX) Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE: MLM)
CAPS Members Bullish on VMC Also Bullish on	General Electric (NYSE: GE) Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)
CAPS Members Bearish on VMC Also Bearish on	Home Depot (NYSE: HD) Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL)

Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS.

Over on CAPS, fully 393 of the 434 members who have rated Vulcan --
some 90.5% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going
forward. These bulls include All-Stars littlebigguy and MBLacey, both of whom are ranked in the top 20% of our community.

In March,
littlebigguy reminded Fools that Vulcan "is one of the top aggregate
providers in the US." Our CAPS member concludes: "If Congress ever gets
off their collective duffs and acts on their promise of infrastructure
rebuilding, [Vulcan] stands to be a huge beneficiary."

In a pitch from last month, MBLacey helped cement that bullishness:

Vulcan Materials is the largest producer of
aggregates in the US, and also manufactures cement, concrete and
asphalt. It should be a good performer with the amount of
infrastructure projects required just to keep the vast area of highways
in this country in good shape, let alone to modernize and update them
to keep up with growing traffic. Other large infrastructure projects
are going to require large amounts of cement and concrete as well. Pays
a decent dividend.

Even though Vulcan subsequently announced a dividend cut and
secondary offering of shares, the CAPS member followed that initial
pitch with guarded optimism, pointing out that "these actions will
shore up the balance sheet, and infrastructure spending should begin
ramping up in 2010. With states cutting infrastructure at the same time
as the Federal Government is increasing, there could be some delay or
contracts could be spread out farther than currently planned."

What do you think about Vulcan, or any other stock for that matter?
Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 135,000
investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free,
so simply click here to get started.

Last edited by Salinder Kumar on Wed, 06/24/2009 - 18:53 | Write to author: Brian D. Pacampara |