Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.1% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 546,170 shares worth about $321.4 million.
• Several other large institutional investors also boosted their positions, and hedge funds and institutions now own 95.04% of the company’s stock.
• Martin Marietta Materials reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.93 topping estimates and revenue rising 17.2% year over year; the company also paid a $0.83 quarterly dividend.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 546,170 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 5,764 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.91% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $321,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,448,928 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,524,853,000 after purchasing an additional 836,120 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 31.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,340,677 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,284,938,000 after purchasing an additional 565,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,553,364 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $963,406,000 after purchasing an additional 10,743 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,367,016 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $851,188,000 after buying an additional 68,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 769,904 shares of the construction company's stock worth $479,389,000 after buying an additional 65,623 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $702.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $614.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Berenberg Bank set a $556.00 price objective on Martin Marietta Materials and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $731.00 to $737.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $681.53.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $551.30 on Thursday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $525.38 and a fifty-two week high of $710.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 2.28. The company has a market capitalization of $33.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $576.52 and a 200 day moving average of $611.15.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.15. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 10.27% and a net margin of 38.67%.The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.91%.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc NYSE: MLM is a leading producer of aggregates and heavy building materials serving the construction and infrastructure markets. The company operates quarries, sand and gravel pits, and other extraction sites to supply crushed stone, sand and gravel, and a range of value‑added products for use in roads, bridges, commercial and residential construction, and other civil engineering projects.

In addition to its core aggregates business, Martin Marietta manufactures and sells asphalt, ready‑mixed concrete and related materials and services.

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