Tran Capital Management L.P. Boosts Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Tran Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,616 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Martin Marietta Materials comprises 3.6% of Tran Capital Management L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Tran Capital Management L.P. owned about 0.09% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $26,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the construction company's stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,661 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 812 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Castle Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,077 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 31,142 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $16,469,000 after purchasing an additional 8,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM traded down $10.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $541.87. The stock had a trading volume of 249,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 486,711. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $529.68 and a 200-day moving average of $521.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50. The company has a market capitalization of $32.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $441.95 and a 12-month high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MLM. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $610.69.

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.