Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Trims Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its stake by 6.2%, selling 35,907 shares and ending the quarter with 540,414 shares of Martin Marietta worth about $340.5 million (approximately 0.90% of the company).
• Other institutions mostly added to positions—Bank of America, Vanguard, Principal and State Street increased holdings while Norges Bank initiated a new $233.8 million position, leaving institutional investors with about 95.04% ownership of the stock.
• Martin Marietta recently missed quarterly expectations (EPS $4.62 vs. $4.81 expected; revenue $1.53B vs. $1.66B), the stock was down ~4.1% and trades near $633.54, analysts show a consensus "Hold" with a $697.13 target, and the company pays a $0.83 quarterly dividend (0.5% yield).

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 540,414 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 35,907 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.90% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $340,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 565,856 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $233,811,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,204,425 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,389,428,000 after buying an additional 192,637 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,442,945 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,691,139,000 after buying an additional 93,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,825,325 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,550,990,000 after buying an additional 56,353 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 4.1%

NYSE MLM opened at $633.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $38.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.13. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $441.95 and a fifty-two week high of $710.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $658.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $632.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $4.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.81 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.66 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 17.38% and a return on equity of 10.86%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MLM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Zacks Research cut Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $637.00 to $681.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $706.00 price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $697.13.

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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