Citigroup Inc. Boosts Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 23.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 104,915 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,605 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $50,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $235,000. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 78.9% during the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 65.5% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,007 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 30.5% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 933 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Bank of America upped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $577.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $525.00 price target (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.60.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MLM opened at $612.09 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $36.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $561.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $528.28. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $441.95 and a twelve month high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.44 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 17.53%.

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.