Korea Investment CORP Acquires New Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Korea Investment CORP bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 26,154 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,083,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the second quarter worth $2,706,134,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 51.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,448,928 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,524,853,000 after purchasing an additional 836,120 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $354,681,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 31.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,340,677 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,284,938,000 after buying an additional 565,856 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $199,321,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE MLM opened at $535.28 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.41. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $522.19 and a one year high of $710.97. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $569.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $595.62.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.24. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 36.73% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.43 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.07 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MLM shares. Berenberg Bank set a $556.00 price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wolfe Research set a $648.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $737.00 to $690.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $668.53.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc (NYSE: MLM) is a leading producer of aggregates and heavy building materials serving the construction and infrastructure markets. The company operates quarries, sand and gravel pits, and other extraction sites to supply crushed stone, sand and gravel, and a range of value‑added products for use in roads, bridges, commercial and residential construction, and other civil engineering projects.

In addition to its core aggregates business, Martin Marietta manufactures and sells asphalt, ready‑mixed concrete and related materials and services.