Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 446 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 223.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 646 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the first quarter worth $31,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1,300.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 186.4% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 63 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM stock opened at $562.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $34.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $535.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $557.11. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $389.90 and a 1 year high of $626.67.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.36 by ($0.60). The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.80% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.60 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MLM. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $615.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $670.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Stephens reduced their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $619.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.