GW&K Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,037 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,143 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned 0.06% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $18,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MLM. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,305 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,290,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 13,383 shares of the construction company's stock worth $6,912,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 572 shares of the construction company's stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 850 shares of the construction company's stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 0.0%

Martin Marietta Materials stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $581.63. 58,081 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 482,776. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.87. The business's 50-day moving average price is $554.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $523.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.02. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is 18.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MLM. UBS Group raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $515.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $603.86.

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.