Saudi Central Bank Grows Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• Saudi Central Bank increased its Martin Marietta Materials stake by 89.5% in the second quarter, reaching 4,218 shares valued at approximately $2.43 million. Institutional investors collectively own 95.04% of the company.
• Martin Marietta reported quarterly EPS of $5.00 and revenue of $1.95 billion, exceeding analyst expectations; revenue rose 21% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.84 per share, while analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $665.88.

Saudi Central Bank raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 89.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,218 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,992 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $2,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,650,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 14,332.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 77,792 shares of the construction company's stock worth $48,438,000 after purchasing an additional 77,253 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,448,928 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,524,853,000 after purchasing an additional 836,120 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 51,326 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $31,958,000 after purchasing an additional 5,150 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 49,559 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $28,581,000 after buying an additional 7,772 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

MLM opened at $516.12 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $31.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $551.37 and a 200 day moving average of $583.61. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $502.56 and a fifty-two week high of $710.97.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research set a $648.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings cut Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $664.00 to $639.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $616.00 to $581.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $665.88.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc NYSE: MLM is a leading producer of aggregates and heavy building materials serving the construction and infrastructure markets. The company operates quarries, sand and gravel pits, and other extraction sites to supply crushed stone, sand and gravel, and a range of value‑added products for use in roads, bridges, commercial and residential construction, and other civil engineering projects.

In addition to its core aggregates business, Martin Marietta manufactures and sells asphalt, ready‑mixed concrete and related materials and services.

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