Covea Finance Buys 3,500 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Covea Finance boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 29,800 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Covea Finance’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $13,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MLM. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 212.9% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 93.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, VP Craig M. Latorre sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.09, for a total value of $223,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,215,304.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Craig M. Latorre sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.09, for a total value of $223,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,215,304.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Craig M. Latorre sold 1,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.68, for a total transaction of $834,869.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 9,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,200,678.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM stock traded down $8.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $427.38. The company had a trading volume of 178,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 372,585. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.55. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $298.32 and a 1 year high of $463.41. The company has a market capitalization of $26.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $448.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $405.93.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.83 by $0.77. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 13.42%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is presently 19.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MLM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $460.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $430.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $460.00 to $527.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $410.00 to $493.00 in a research note on Friday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $465.07.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.