Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,093,942 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 76,804 shares during the quarter. Martin Marietta Materials accounts for 0.7% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,232,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MLM. Optima Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MLM shares. UBS Group set a $739.00 target price on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $614.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $700.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $682.41.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $569.59 on Tuesday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $525.38 and a fifty-two week high of $710.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 2.28. The company has a market cap of $34.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $580.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $614.74.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 10.27% and a net margin of 38.67%.Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

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.