Great Lakes Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,309 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,101,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,706,134,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 51.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,448,928 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,524,853,000 after buying an additional 836,120 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,399,779 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,412,702,000 after acquiring an additional 21,310 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,553,364 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $963,406,000 after acquiring an additional 10,743 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,367,016 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $851,188,000 after acquiring an additional 68,382 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM opened at $535.67 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $32.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $571.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $597.35. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $522.19 and a 12-month high of $710.97.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 36.73% and a return on equity of 9.49%. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MLM. Raymond James Financial set a $660.00 price target on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, July 31st. Stephens dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Oppenheimer started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Berenberg Bank set a $556.00 target price on Martin Marietta Materials and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $668.53.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc (NYSE: MLM) is a leading producer of aggregates and heavy building materials serving the construction and infrastructure markets. The company operates quarries, sand and gravel pits, and other extraction sites to supply crushed stone, sand and gravel, and a range of value‑added products for use in roads, bridges, commercial and residential construction, and other civil engineering projects.

In addition to its core aggregates business, Martin Marietta manufactures and sells asphalt, ready‑mixed concrete and related materials and services.