Wedmont Private Capital Raises Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 534 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $673,000. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.0% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 680 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Argent Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 14.8% in the second quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 3,636 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,970,000 after buying an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 239.0% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,152 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,333,000 after acquiring an additional 4,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 6.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,655,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM stock opened at $530.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $32.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $557.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $550.78. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is presently 9.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MLM. BNP Paribas cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price target for the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $515.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.71.

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.