Hantz Financial Services Inc. Increases Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,727 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MLM. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MLM. StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.71.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

MLM stock opened at $546.39 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $548.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $551.33. The company has a market capitalization of $33.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $490.05 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

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.