Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Position Lifted by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,236 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $2,704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 782 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $421,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $690,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 570 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 447 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% during the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,123 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on MLM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $639.43.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

MLM stock opened at $483.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.94, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $527.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $546.10. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $482.14 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. Sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.77%.

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.