Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 120,679 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,940,423 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 120,679 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 3.20% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $927,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the fourth 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 period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 835 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% in the first 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 during the period. PDS Planning Inc grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.9% in the first quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 452 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.5% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 652 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MLM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $603.86.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $557.89. 310,586 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 484,363. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $546.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $519.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.63 billion, a PE ratio of 32.14, a P/E/G ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.87. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $441.95 and a one year high of $633.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 16.07%. Martin Marietta Materials's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.