M&G Plc Has $35.96 Million Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

M&G Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 5.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 66,840 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,311 shares during the period. M&G Plc’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $35,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MLM. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 55.7% in the 3rd quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 707 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 63,437 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $34,145,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,625 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,795,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,200 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,734 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MLM. StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $626.92.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 6.0 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $617.31 on Thursday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $439.36 and a one year high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $545.48 and its 200 day moving average is $556.16. The firm has a market cap of $37.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.90.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.95 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.85%.

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.