Versor Investments LP Invests $615,000 in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• Versor Investments LP has invested $615,000 in Martin Marietta Materials, acquiring 1,286 shares, as noted in their recent Form 13F filing.
• Martin Marietta has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.83, reflecting a positive change from the previous quarterly dividend of $0.79.
• Bank of America and UBS Group have both raised their price targets for Martin Marietta shares, signaling positive analyst sentiment with multiple upgrades and a current average rating of "Moderate Buy."

Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,286 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $615,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,342,358 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,510,602,000 after buying an additional 168,175 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,944,694 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,407,947,000 after buying an additional 268,928 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,940,423 shares of the construction company's stock worth $927,775,000 after buying an additional 120,679 shares in the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 771,198 shares of the construction company's stock worth $398,324,000 after buying an additional 245,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 58,570.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,592 shares of the construction company's stock worth $333,540,000 after buying an additional 696,403 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MLM. UBS Group raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Monday, August 4th. Bank of America raised their price target 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. DA Davidson raised their price target 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, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $525.00 price target (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $622.63.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 15,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,455,554.44. This trade represents a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.5%

MLM stock traded down $2.8910 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $604.9990. The company's stock had a trading volume of 318,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 440,196. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $441.95 and a 52 week high of $633.23. The stock has a market cap of $36.49 billion, a PE ratio of 33.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.89. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $574.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $533.31.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.76 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Martin Marietta Materials has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is 17.53%.

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.