Empowered Funds LLC Makes New Investment in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 3,158 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,821,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter worth about $2,706,134,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,411,047,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,448,928 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,524,853,000 after acquiring an additional 836,120 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $354,681,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $199,321,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MLM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $680.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $664.00 to $639.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Berenberg Bank set a $556.00 price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $665.88.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $510.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $554.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $585.82. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $502.56 and a one year high of $710.97.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.24. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 36.73%.The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.43 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.07 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.26%.

Martin Marietta Materials 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.