National Bank of Canada FI Boosts Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 61.1%, owning 46,120 shares valued at approximately $22 million after acquiring 17,493 additional shares.
• Martin Marietta reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $5.43, missing estimates slightly, with revenue of $1.81 billion, up 2.7% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.79 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.5%, with a payout ratio of 17.53%.

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 61.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,120 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,493 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.08% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $22,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 104,915 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $50,163,000 after buying an additional 19,605 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 108,201 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $51,734,000 after buying an additional 11,567 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 249,374 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $119,233,000 after buying an additional 31,264 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 416,361 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $199,075,000 after buying an additional 19,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $674,000. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total transaction of $636,626.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,455,554.44. This represents a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:MLM traded down $6.90 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $613.18. 305,491 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 483,228. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $441.95 and a 12-month high of $633.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $565.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $529.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.98 billion, a PE ratio of 34.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.62 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 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 firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.76 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MLM. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, August 8th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Monday, August 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $622.63.

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.