19,510 Shares in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Acquired by Ycg LLC

Key Points

• Ycg LLC has invested approximately $9.33 million in Martin Marietta Materials, acquiring 19,510 shares during the first quarter of the year.
• Multiple analysts have recently upgraded their price targets for Martin Marietta Materials, raising the average target price to $622.63, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company reported a quarterly earnings miss with $5.43 earnings per share, slightly below the consensus estimate of $5.44, alongside revenue growth of 2.7% year-over-year.

YCG LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 19,510 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $9,328,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 168,175 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 268,928 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,940,423 shares of the construction company's stock worth $927,775,000 after acquiring an additional 120,679 shares in the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 771,198 shares of the construction company's stock worth $398,324,000 after acquiring an additional 245,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 696,403 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total value of $636,626.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,455,554.44. The trade was a 6.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock traded down $6.90 during trading on Thursday, hitting $613.18. 365,019 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 428,141. The stock has a market cap of $36.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.01, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.35. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $441.95 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $566.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $530.35.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.44 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 11.88%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is currently 17.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MLM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $525.00 target price (up from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $609.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $622.63.

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.