Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Bought by True North Advisors LLC

Key Points

• True North Advisors LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 13.1% in Q1, now holding 5,362 shares valued at approximately $2.56 million.
• Wall Street analysts have given Martin Marietta Materials a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target averaging $615.60, indicating optimism about its future performance.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.79 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 18.20%.

True North Advisors LLC raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 13.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,362 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the quarter. True North Advisors LLC's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $2,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MLM. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 448 shares of the construction company's stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 8,162 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,216,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,496 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $368,000. Finally, F M Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 9,681 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,000,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MLM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $577.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $615.60.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM opened at $612.09 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $561.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $528.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 2.35. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $441.95 and a 1 year high of $633.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.90 billion, a PE ratio of 33.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is 18.20%.

Martin Marietta Materials 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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