Wedmont Private Capital Acquires 78 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 14.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 612 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MLM. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of MLM opened at $545.95 on Thursday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $441.95 and a 1 year high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $526.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $523.59. The firm has a market cap of $32.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MLM shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $610.69.

About Martin Marietta Materials

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.