Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Invests $10.85 Million in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 18,810 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,848,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,706,134,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 51.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,448,928 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,524,853,000 after acquiring an additional 836,120 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,399,779 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,412,702,000 after purchasing an additional 21,310 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,553,364 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $963,406,000 after purchasing an additional 10,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,367,016 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $851,188,000 after purchasing an additional 68,382 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MLM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $615.00 to $610.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wolfe Research set a $648.00 price objective on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $737.00 to $690.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $664.00 to $639.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $739.00 to $715.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.53.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $535.67 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.16, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $571.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $597.35. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $522.19 and a 52-week high of $710.97.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.24. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 36.73% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.07 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.16%.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc (NYSE: MLM) is a leading producer of aggregates and heavy building materials serving the construction and infrastructure markets. The company operates quarries, sand and gravel pits, and other extraction sites to supply crushed stone, sand and gravel, and a range of value?added products for use in roads, bridges, commercial and residential construction, and other civil engineering projects.

In addition to its core aggregates business, Martin Marietta manufactures and sells asphalt, ready?mixed concrete and related materials and services.