Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 24.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,250 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 9,233 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $21,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% during the second quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% during the second quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.4% during the first quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 336 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.7% during the first quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,141 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.3% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 10,526 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 93.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MLM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, September 15th. They issued a “reduce” rating and a $376.00 price target on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $430.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $471.79.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

NYSE:MLM opened at $455.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.14 billion, a PE ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $317.94 and a 52 week high of $468.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $427.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $432.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The construction company reported $6.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.04 by $0.90. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.10% and a return on equity of 14.89%. Martin Marietta Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 18.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Investors of record on Friday, December 1st will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.18%.

Martin Marietta Materials 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.