Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,983 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $939,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 58,570.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,592 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $333,540,000 after buying an additional 696,403 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $306,863,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 771,198 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $398,324,000 after acquiring an additional 245,000 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,940,423 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $927,775,000 after acquiring an additional 120,679 shares during the period. Finally, Skye Global Management LP grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 85.2% during the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 256,500 shares of the construction company's stock worth $132,482,000 after acquiring an additional 118,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of MLM opened at $566.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.17 billion, a PE ratio of 32.65, a P/E/G ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.87. 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 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 2.25. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $549.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $520.66.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MLM has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Monday, June 16th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $515.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $548.00 to $634.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $603.86.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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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