Gradient Investments LLC Increases Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 18.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,559 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,772 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $28,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 17,091 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,856,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 28,829 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $16,626,000 after purchasing an additional 5,328 shares during the last quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 6,846 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,948,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,682,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mader & Shannon Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mader & Shannon Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,665 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,881,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MLM shares. Raymond James Financial set a $660.00 target price on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, July 31st. 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. Wolfe Research set a $648.00 price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $670.00.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM stock opened at $548.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $575.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $603.58. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $523.48 and a 12-month high of $710.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 36.73% and a return on equity of 9.49%. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.16%.

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.