Findlay Park Partners LLP Reduces Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• Findlay Park Partners LLP reduced its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 19.2%, selling 54,200 shares and owning 228,642 shares valued at $109,321,000 as of its latest SEC filing.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.83 per share, payable on September 30th, up from the previous $0.79.
• Martin Marietta reported $5.43 EPS for the last quarter, slightly missing analyst expectations, and plans to achieve a projected 19.53 EPS for the current year, reflecting continued growth.

Findlay Park Partners LLP lessened its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 19.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 228,642 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 54,200 shares during the quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP owned about 0.38% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $109,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,020 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $932,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,575,000. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 736 shares of the construction company's stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of MLM stock traded up $4.06 on Friday, reaching $616.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 368,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 451,771. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $580.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $535.75. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $441.95 and a 1 year high of $633.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $37.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.76 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Martin Marietta Materials has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. 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. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is 17.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MLM shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective 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. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $525.00 target price (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $622.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Martin Marietta Materials

In related news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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. This trade represents a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

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.