Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM Shares Bought by Wolverine Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Wolverine Asset Management increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) by 200% in Q4, buying an additional 4,000 shares to hold 6,000 shares valued at $3.736 million.
• Multiple large institutions also raised positions — including Bank of America, Principal, Millennium (up 1,570.3%), Freestone (up 748.5%) and Vanguard — leaving 95.04% institutional ownership, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Martin Marietta beat Q1 estimates with EPS $1.93 vs $1.78 and revenue $1.36B (up 17.2% YoY); the stock trades near $602 with a $36.3B market cap, P/E of 14.36, and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.83 (0.6% yield).

Wolverine Asset Management LLC raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 200.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,000 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $3,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MLM. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 31.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,340,677 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,284,938,000 after buying an additional 565,856 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,204,425 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,389,428,000 after buying an additional 192,637 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 1,570.3% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 108,167 shares of the construction company's stock worth $68,175,000 after buying an additional 115,524 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 748.5% in the 3rd quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 124,963 shares of the construction company's stock worth $78,762,000 after buying an additional 110,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,442,945 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,691,139,000 after purchasing an additional 93,595 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MLM shares. Raymond James Financial set a $690.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $785.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $804.00 to $731.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $615.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $688.81.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 2.0%

MLM opened at $602.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $615.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $627.82. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $530.86 and a 1-year high of $710.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.13.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 38.67% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The business's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. Analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is presently 7.91%.

Martin Marietta Materials 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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