Hartford Investment Management Co. Lowers Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,802 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $2,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.8% during the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 664 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 13.6% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 167 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.7% during the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 555 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.0% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 680 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 1.4 %

MLM stock opened at $570.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $536.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $557.20. The company has a market capitalization of $35.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $389.90 and a twelve month high of $626.67.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.36 by ($0.60). The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.80% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.79 dividend. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MLM shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. BNP Paribas raised Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $619.36.

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.