Freestone Grove Partners LP Invests $71.66 Million in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 124,262 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,662,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter worth $2,706,134,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,448,928 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,524,853,000 after purchasing an additional 836,120 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth $354,681,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,340,677 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,284,938,000 after purchasing 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 valued at $199,321,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM stock opened at $532.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.11. 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 simple moving average is $565.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $592.76. 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 (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.24. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 36.73%.The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.43 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MLM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $615.00 to $610.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Berenberg Bank set a $556.00 target price on Martin Marietta Materials and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Oppenheimer started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $665.29.

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.