ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 495 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MLM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $639.43.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM opened at $489.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $482.72 and a one year high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $530.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $547.08.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. As a group, analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

About Martin Marietta Materials

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.