Czech National Bank Purchases 802 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Czech National Bank grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,252 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $6,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MLM. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 25,242 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $13,037,000 after acquiring an additional 3,384 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 18.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $734,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2,448.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,376 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 12,936 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,963,000 after buying an additional 1,014 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 0.9 %

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $517.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $31.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $489.90 and a 12 month high of $633.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $560.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $551.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MLM. HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $643.36.

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.