Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM Shares Bought by Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP

Key Points

• Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP significantly increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, raising its holdings by 111.5% to 191,575 shares, making it the fund's 8th largest holding.
• The company recently reported $5.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, slightly below the consensus estimate of $5.44 while its revenue was $1.81 billion, trailing behind the estimated $1.88 billion.
• Martin Marietta Materials declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83, up from the previous dividend of $0.79, reflecting a positive trend in the company's shareholder returns.

Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 111.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 191,575 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 100,975 shares during the period. Martin Marietta Materials accounts for 4.3% of Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP owned 0.32% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $91,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth $235,000. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 78.9% in the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the construction company's stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 65.5% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the construction company's stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,007 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 30.5% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 933 shares of the construction company's stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group raised 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 research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $622.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total value of $636,626.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,417 shares in the company, valued at $9,455,554.44. This trade represents a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM traded up $3.79 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $622.76. 311,202 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 389,811. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $587.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $538.81. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $441.95 and a 12 month high of $633.23. The firm has a market cap of $37.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.54, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.94.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.44 by ($0.01). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 11.88%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.76 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Martin Marietta Materials has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is 18.41%.

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.