Midwest Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 92 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,441,663,000 after purchasing an additional 506,705 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,353,936,000 after purchasing an additional 334,605 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819,744 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $939,898,000 after purchasing an additional 191,043 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 534,801 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $295,397,000 after buying an additional 9,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54.2% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 467,782 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $251,784,000 after buying an additional 164,503 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MLM opened at $489.94 on Monday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $482.72 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 company has a market cap of $29.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $530.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $547.14.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MLM. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group began coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 target price on the stock. Stephens lowered their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lowered their price target 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. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $639.43.

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.