Written by StockNews.com

Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) early Wednesday posted market-beating first quarter earnings results and offered an optimistic outlook for the rest of the year, as demand for its products is expected to rise amid publicly-funded construction projects.

The Birmingham, AL-based construction materials provider reported Q1 earnings per share (EPS) of $0.34, which was $0.12 better than the Wall Street consensus estimate of $0.22.

Revenues rose 4.3% from last year to $787 million, also easily surpassing analysts’ view for $743.79 million.

The company commented on its outlook for the rest of the year via press release:

“For the full year we expect strong year-over-year growth in earnings, and our first quarter results are consistent with that expectation.

First quarter aggregates shipments were just below last year’s seasonally strong first quarter levels and the pricing environment remains favorable, with growth across the vast majority of our markets.

Expectation for full year Adjusted EBITDA of $1.125 to $1.225 billion is driven by a continuing recovery in shipments, with higher levels of publicly funded construction activity beginning to join the ongoing recovery in private demand.

Other management expectations (e.g. aggregates price and volume, gross profit growth and SAG expense) remain as outlined in our fourth quarter 2016 earnings communications.”

Established in 1909, Vulcan is a supplier primarily of paving materials, including aggregates, asphalt mix, concrete, and calcium. The company has been seen by many investors and analysts as a potential growth play in recent months amid President Trump’s massive infrastructure plans.

Vulcan Materials Company shares rose $3.90 (+3.09%) in premarket trading Wednesday. Year-to-date, VMC has gained 0.98%, versus a 7.58% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

VMC currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of B (Buy), and is ranked #17 of 41 stocks in the Industrial – Building Materials category.