Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, owning approximately 12.18% of the company after purchasing an additional 168,175 shares in the first quarter.
• A variety of analysts have set new price targets for Martin Marietta Materials, with estimates ranging from $515.00 to $700.00, reflecting a generally positive sentiment about the company's prospects.
• The company reported earnings of $5.43 per share for the last quarter, slightly missing estimates, with a revenue of $1.81 billion and a year-over-year revenue increase of 2.7%.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,342,358 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 168,175 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.18% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $3,510,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 193.9% in the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 97 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $577.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $515.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $611.73.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $600.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $441.95 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $560.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $528.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.44 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is 18.20%.

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.

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