Amundi Increases Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• Amundi increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 9.2%, now owning around 1.71 million shares valued at approximately $827.35 million.
• Analysts have raised target prices for Martin Marietta Materials, with recent ratings from UBS Group and DA Davidson suggesting a target as high as $700.
• The company announced a dividend increase, with a new quarterly payment of $0.83 per share, up from the previous $0.79 dividend.

Amundi raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,706,416 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 144,270 shares during the period. Amundi owned about 2.83% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $827,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,342,358 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,510,602,000 after buying an additional 168,175 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,944,694 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,407,947,000 after buying an additional 268,928 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,940,423 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $927,775,000 after acquiring an additional 120,679 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 58,570.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,592 shares of the construction company's stock worth $333,540,000 after buying an additional 696,403 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 39.2% during the first quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 659,363 shares of the construction company's stock worth $315,261,000 after acquiring an additional 185,731 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MLM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $525.00 target price (up from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $577.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $622.63.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.2%

MLM stock opened at $614.93 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $583.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $536.95. The company has a market cap of $37.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.11, a PEG ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $441.95 and a 52 week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.44 by ($0.01). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 11.88%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.76 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Martin Marietta Materials has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is presently 17.53%.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In related news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total transaction of $636,626.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,417 shares in the company, valued at $9,455,554.44. This trade represents a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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