Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Position Trimmed by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 87.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,643 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 11,984 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $849,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MLM. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $876,648,000 after acquiring an additional 704,460 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,441,663,000 after purchasing an additional 506,705 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% during the 3rd 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. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 7,608.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 181,373 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $97,624,000 after buying an additional 179,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in 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 period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $542.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $549.29 and a 200-day moving average of $551.41. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $490.05 and a one year high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MLM. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays raised their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.71.

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.