Great Lakes Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 6.8%, owning approximately 0.31% of the company, worth $88.5 million.
• Martin Marietta reported $5.43 earnings per share for the last quarter, slightly missing expectations, with revenues of $1.81 billion.
• The company has declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, up from $0.79, demonstrating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 184,153 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,678 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned about 0.31% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $88,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 56.4% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,978 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,571,000 after buying an additional 1,796 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 9,282 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,794,000 after buying an additional 847 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 218,110 shares of the construction company's stock worth $112,654,000 after buying an additional 42,304 shares during the period. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 1,812 shares of the construction company's stock worth $936,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 22,245 shares of the construction company's stock worth $11,490,000 after buying an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In other 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 value of $636,626.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,455,554.44. The trade was a 6.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM opened at $622.76 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $587.60 and a 200-day moving average of $539.05. The company has a market capitalization of $37.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.54, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.94. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $441.95 and a 1-year high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released 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). The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 16.47%.Martin Marietta Materials's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.76 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MLM shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $609.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $525.00 price target (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted 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 report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $622.63.

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.

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