Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Trims Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP has reduced its stake in Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) by 1.5%, now holding approximately 631,519 shares valued at $301.9 million.
• Martin Marietta Materials reported earnings per share of $5.43 for the last quarter, slightly below expectations, with revenue of $1.81 billion, indicating a 2.7% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.79 to $0.83, representing an annualized dividend of $3.32 and a yield of 0.5%.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 631,519 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 9,845 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.05% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $301,922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,020 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 993 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $475,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 452 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.5% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 652 shares of the construction company's stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 448 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total value of $636,626.16. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MLM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $577.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $609.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Monday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $622.63.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MLM traded up $11.78 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $612.52. 95,273 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 476,882. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $441.95 and a 52 week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $36.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.89. The business's fifty day moving average price is $571.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $532.49.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $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. Equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.53%.

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.