Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Makes New Investment in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 366 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $197,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 614.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 200 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 103.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,165 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,257,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $323,000. &PARTNERS purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $370,000. Finally, Herold Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.6% during the second quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 2,195 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.7 %

MLM opened at $535.64 on Thursday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.67 and a 12-month 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 has a market capitalization of $32.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $580.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $555.15.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays raised their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.08.

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.