The Best Stock in Alabama: Vulcan Materials

We scoured the nation to identify the best stock in every state. Vulcan Materials (symbol VMC) is the publicly traded company we picked in Alabama. The company headquarters is located in Birmingham.

A word of caution: Since we selected a single stock from each state (plus one from D.C), and choices in some states are sparse, a few of our picks are best suited to investors comfortable with a higher degree of risk. This is not necessarily one of our 51 favorite stocks in the entire U.S., in other words.

Vulcan Materials by the Numbers

• Headquarters: Birmingham
• Share price: $129.34
• Market value: $17.1 billion
• Price-earnings ratio: 31

(Prices and data are as of June 22, 2017)

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The nation’s leading producer and distributor of crushed stone, Vulcan is trading near an all-time high thanks to a run-up in the stocks of building-materials companies following the presidential election. And if the current administration goes forward with its plan to spend $1 trillion to revamp the nation’s infrastructure, few companies stand to benefit more than Vulcan.

But considering the uncertainty surrounding the Trump White House lately, it’s good for investors that an infrastructure bill would only be icing on Vulcan’s already growing cake. Matt Miller, an analyst at stock research firm CFRA, sees private construction spending rising more than 10% in 2017. Supported by a steady recovery in nonresidential construction, he says, Vulcan’s earnings will grow by 57% in 2017, to $4.50 per share, followed by a 29% bump in 2018, to $5.80 a share. Miller rates the stock a “strong buy” with a 12-month price target of $160.