Franklin Resources Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 498,333 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 7,733 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $310,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Optima Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MLM shares. Barclays cut their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Stephens cut their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $740.00 to $735.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $702.00 to $664.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Citigroup cut their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $804.00 to $731.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $681.94.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM stock opened at $572.41 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $590.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $619.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $34.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.10. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $525.38 and a 52-week high of $710.97.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 10.27% and a net margin of 38.67%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.91%.

Martin Marietta Materials 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.