Federated Hermes Inc. Reduces Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 89,243 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,750 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $42,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter worth $29,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the first quarter valued at $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 193.9% during the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 97 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $575.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $34.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $555.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $525.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.02. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 31st. UBS Group raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $605.93.

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.