Citigroup Inc. Raises Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.0%, acquiring an additional 19,605 shares, bringing its total to 104,915 shares valued at approximately $50.16 million.
• Martin Marietta Materials recently reported earnings of $5.43 per share, slightly missing analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $1.81 billion, a 2.7% increase from the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.79, representing an annualized yield of 0.5%, with a payout ratio of 17.53%.

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 23.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 104,915 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 19,605 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.17% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $50,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $235,000. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 65.5% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,007 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 933 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In related news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total transaction of $636,626.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,455,554.44. This trade represents a 6.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $609.00 to $637.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Monday, August 4th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $577.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $525.00 price target (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, August 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $622.63.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:MLM traded down $6.90 on Thursday, hitting $613.18. The company had a trading volume of 305,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 483,228. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $565.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $529.88. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $441.95 and a 1 year high of $633.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.01, a P/E/G ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.76 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials 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.