Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM Stock: D.A. Davidson & CO. Cuts Position

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,913 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 928 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $6,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,706,134,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $1,411,047,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 546,170 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $321,442,000 after acquiring an additional 5,764 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 386,046 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $222,633,000 after acquiring an additional 46,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $199,321,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MLM opened at $541.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $464.92 and a 1-year high of $710.97. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $502.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $576.08.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 36.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 16.29 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $610.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Stephens decreased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $634.00 to $629.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $585.00 to $579.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $690.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $639.59.

Martin Marietta Materials Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc is a supplier of construction materials serving the infrastructure, commercial, residential and industrial markets. The company’s primary business is aggregates, including crushed stone, sand and gravel used in roads, bridges, buildings and other construction projects.

Martin Marietta also produces cement, ready-mixed concrete and asphalt products, and provides paving and related construction services in selected markets. Through its Magnesia Specialties business, the company manufactures magnesium-based and dolomitic lime products used in industrial, environmental and agricultural applications.

Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, Martin Marietta Materials became an independent publicly traded company in 1993 following a spin-off from Martin Marietta Corporation.