United Services Automobile Association Acquires Shares of 1,362 Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., purchasing 1,362 shares valued at approximately $651,000 during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their stakes in Martin Marietta, leading to 95.04% of the company's stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Martin Marietta recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.83 per share, raising its annual dividend yield to 0.5% from the previous $0.79.

United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,362 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $651,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MLM. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 58,570.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,592 shares of the construction company's stock worth $333,540,000 after purchasing an additional 696,403 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1,880.3% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 369,382 shares of the construction company's stock worth $176,613,000 after purchasing an additional 350,729 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.1% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,944,694 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,407,947,000 after purchasing an additional 268,928 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 39.2% in the first quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 659,363 shares of the construction company's stock worth $315,261,000 after purchasing an additional 185,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,342,358 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,510,602,000 after purchasing an additional 168,175 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MLM. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $609.00 to $637.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $525.00 target price (up from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, August 8th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $577.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $622.63.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

MLM traded down $14.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $616.61. 331,389 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 361,376. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company's fifty day moving average price is $594.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $543.25. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.76 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Martin Marietta Materials has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is currently 18.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

About Martin Marietta Materials

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.