What Do Hedge Funds Think of Vulcan Materials Company (VMC)?

With the third-quarter round of 13F filings behind us it is time to take a look at the stocks in which some of the best money managers in the world preferred to invest or sell heading into the fourth quarter. One of these stocks was Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC).

Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) investors should pay attention to an increase in enthusiasm from smart money of late. VMC was in 49 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 39 hedge funds in our database with VMC holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare VMC to other stocks including Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST), Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE:CXO), and Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL) to get a better sense of its popularity.

To the average investor there are many gauges stock traders can use to value publicly traded companies. Some of the less known gauges are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top fund managers can outpace the market by a superb margin (see the details here).

Now, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action regarding Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC).

What does the smart money think about Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC)?

Heading into Q4, a total of 49 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 26% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Lone Pine Capital, managed by Stephen Mandel, holds the number one position in Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC). Lone Pine Capital has a $285.6 million position in the stock, comprising 1.2% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is OZ Management, managed by Daniel S. Och, which holds a $175 million position; 0.6% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers with similar optimism consist of Patrick Degorce’s Theleme Partners, Christopher James’s Partner Fund Management and Ken Heebner’s Capital Growth Management.

Now, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. OZ Management, managed by Daniel S. Och, initiated the largest position in Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC). OZ Management had $175 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Heebner’s Capital Growth Management also made a $68.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Andrew Immerman and Jeremy Schiffman’s Palestra Capital Management, Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management, and Christopher A. Winham’s Tide Point Capital.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC). These stocks are Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST), Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE:CXO), Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL), and Cameron International Corporation (NYSE:CAM). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to VMC’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 39.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $898 million. That figure was $1,532 million in VMC’s case. Cameron International Corporation (NYSE:CAM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST) is the least popular one with only 29 bullish hedge fund positions. Given that Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) is the most popular stock in this group (along with CAM), hedge fund sentiment says VMC is worth a closer look.