Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Bought by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,561 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 763 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $6,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,170,166 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,577,268,000 after acquiring an additional 69,701 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 114.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 980,699 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $602,092,000 after purchasing an additional 523,038 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $308,705,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 615,396 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $307,026,000 after purchasing an additional 27,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 465,703 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $252,318,000 after purchasing an additional 11,749 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM stock traded up $5.28 on Friday, hitting $529.27. 147,853 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 443,456. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The company has a market capitalization of $32.62 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $389.90 and a 1-year high of $626.67. The company’s fifty day moving average is $546.13 and its 200 day moving average is $570.48.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.36 by ($0.60). The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The business’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 22.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MLM. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $615.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Stephens decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $660.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.82.

Martin Marietta Materials Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc, a natural resource-based building materials company, supplies aggregates and heavy-side building materials to the construction industry in the United States and internationally. It offers crushed stone, sand, and gravel products; ready mixed concrete and asphalt; paving products and services; and Portland and specialty cement for use in the infrastructure projects, and nonresidential and residential construction markets, as well as in the railroad, agricultural, utility, and environmental industries.