National Pension Service Boosts Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• National Pension Service increased its Martin Marietta Materials stake by 6.4% in the second quarter, owning 95,221 shares worth approximately $54.9 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 95.04% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $667.53, despite ratings ranging from sell to overweight.
• Martin Marietta exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $5.00 EPS and $1.95 billion in revenue, while year-over-year revenue rose 21%. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.84 per share.

National Pension Service raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 6.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,221 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,739 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.16% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $54,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MLM. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 72,704.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 51,073,705 shares of the construction company's stock worth $29,454,206,000 after purchasing an additional 51,003,553 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the second quarter worth about $2,706,134,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 51.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,448,928 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,524,853,000 after buying an additional 836,120 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,411,047,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,553,364 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $963,406,000 after acquiring an additional 10,743 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MLM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $664.00 to $639.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $581.00 to $609.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $660.00 price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $667.53.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE MLM opened at $510.46 on Friday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $491.61 and a one year high of $710.97. The company's 50 day moving average price is $544.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $579.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.10.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.24. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 36.73% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.43 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.07 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is currently 8.26%.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc is a U.S.-based supplier of construction aggregates and other building materials. The company produces crushed stone, sand and gravel used in infrastructure, commercial, residential and industrial construction projects.

Its products and services also include cement, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt and paving materials. Martin Marietta serves customers involved in roads, bridges, airports, buildings and other essential infrastructure, with operations concentrated across several regions of the United States.

The company was established in 1993 as an independent, publicly traded materials business formed from the construction materials operations of Martin Marietta Corporation.

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